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PUSS IN BOOTS. 


[. Frontispiece • ] 






TREASURY 


FAIRY TALES, 


Words of One Syllable. 


BY 


HARRIET B. AUDUBON. 




JLLUSTRA TED. 


o. '* 

lz UTJ 






PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO, 




_ 









• A 

Tn 



Copyright, 1881, by J. B. Lippincott & Co. 


CONTENTS 


GULLIVER IN LILIPUT LAND. 

PUSS IN BOOTS. 

GOODY TWO-SHOES. 

TOM THUMB. 

ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP. 
WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 
VALENTINE AND ORSON. 

LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 

CINDERELLA. 

FAIR ONE WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 

ROBIN HOOD. 

IIOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 

BLUE BEARD. 

JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. 
BEAUTY AND TPIE BEA&T. 


CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


PREFACE. 


To those who have read Robinson Crusoe in 
words of one syllable, by Mary Godolphin, no 
further preface is necessary for any works of 
that kind. To those who have not read it, I 
would merely say, that although these have 
been called Fairy Tales in words of one sylla- 
ble, it has been thought expedient to leave all 
the names unchanged, and also to retain cer- 
tain other words, such as fairy, princess , brother , 
sister , uncle , which have no equivalent shorter 
than the words themselves, and without which 
it would be impossible to give to the stories 
the sense their author originally intended. My 
young readers, I know, will not criticise, and 
from those who are older, I hope for a just ap- 
preciation of the difficulties to be overcome, 
rather than a critical observation of the faults 
these volumes may contain. 


H. B. A. 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


TO LILLI PUT. 



GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 

TO LILLI PUT. 


My father who had his home 
in the South-east part of the large 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE. 


7 


Isle that lies West of the North 
Sea, sent me to school to a man 
whose trade was to cure wounds 
and to cut off the legs and arms 
of folks when they had hurt them 
so much that they had to be cut 
off. As I had a great wish to go 
to sea, I spent all the pence that 
my father and mother gave me, 
on books that told how to sail a 
boat and take charge of one, at sea, 
and when I knew all they could 
teach me of the way to heal 
wounds and cut off arms and legs, 


8 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


I went three or four times to sea 
on a long trip, and at length went 
with a view to cure all who might 
have wounds while out at sea, on 
board the ship Antelope, bound 
for a land far to the East. In the 
course of our trip, the ship ran on 
a rock, and split at once ; six of - 
the crew, of whom I was one, let 
down the boat and got clear of the 
ship ; but soon a great wave came 
and threw the boat up side down. 
Where those who were with me 
in the boat, went to, and if those 


TO LILLIPUT. 


9 


who were left in the ship lost their 
lives, I can not tell. I swam, (and 
both wind and tide came to my 
aid,) till I got to the shore, where, 
as I saw no man, nor house, and 
as I was both faint and worn out 
from my long swim, I lay down to 
sleep. I think I must have slept 
nine or ten hours, for when I woke 
it was broad day and the sun was 
high in the sky. I tried to get 
up, but found my arms, legs, and 
hair made fast to the ground. I 
heard a noise all round me that 


10 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


was quite loud, though not clear, 
but as I lay flat on my back, 1 
couid look no way but up. At 
length I felt that there was a thing 
that could move, on my left leg, 
which ran on my breast and came 
close up to my chin, when, as I 
bent my eyes down as far as I 
could, as I lay, I saw that it was 
a thing like a man, not more than 
half a foot high, but with a form 
that no fault could be found with. 
It had a bow in its hand and not 
a few darts at its back, and all at 


TO LILLIPUT. 


11 


once I found at least twelve of the 
same kind of men, who stood or 
ran on all parts of me. I did not 
know what to think, and gave 
such a loud roar, that they all ran 
back in a fright, and some of 
them, as I heard some months 
from that time, were hurt by the 
falls they got, as they sprang 
from my sides to the ground. I 
lay all this time in great pain, and 
tried hard to get loose. I at length 
had the good luck to break the 
strings, and wrench out the pegs 


12 GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 

that made my left arm and my 
hair fast to the ground, so that 
I could turn round. But the 
small men ran off so soon that 
I could not seize one of them, 
and I heard one of them call out 
some words that I could not make 
out, when all at once I felt a host 
of darts stick in my hands and face 
which felt like sharp pins. Now 
as I had grown wise, I thought 
the best thing I could do was to 
lie still, and the small men, when 
they found that I did not move. 


TO LILLIPUT. 


13 


threw no more darts at me; but 
as the noise round me grew more 
and more loud, I thought there 
must be more of the men, and 
some four or five yards from me, 
I heard some knocks, and when I 
could move my head round that 
way, saw them build a stage, 
four or five feet from the ground, 
which could hold four or five 
of these small men. From this 
stage, one of them, who had the 
air of a man of rank, (for his train 
was borne by a page one inch less 


14 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


than half a foot high) made a long 
speech, in which, by the way he 
held up his hands, I thought he 
meant to say that he would be 
kind and good to me, but the 
words that he made use of were 
quite strange to me ; so I made 
signs to him, to let him know that 
I was half dead for want of food, 
and the man who made the 
speech, who, as I have since found 
out, was a lord, knew what I 
meant quite well. He told them 
to put steps to my sides, and 


TO LILLIPUT. 


15 


up these steps ran more than 
a score of these small men, and 
came up to my mouth, each one 
with a dish full of meat, which the 
King had told them to bring me. 
There were legs and loins the shape 
of which was like the legs and loins 
of lamb, but so small that I ate 
them by two and three at a bite, 
and the loaves of bread were not 
quite as big as the balls of lead 
that we use to load a small gun 
They fed me as fast as they could, 
and it was fun to see them show 



16 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


what they thought of my bulk, and 
the great wish I had to eat ; and 
when I made a sign that I should 
like to drink, they with great skill 
slung up one of their large tuns, 
and beat out the top ; I drank it 
off at a draught, for it did not hold 
more than half a pint. 

They brought me one more 
tun, which I drank in great haste, 
and then made signs for more, but 
they shook their heads to show 
that they had no more to give me. 
When they saw that I did not 



TO LILLIPUT. 


17 


ask for more meat, there came to 
me a man of high rank, from the 
King of the land. The man sent 
by the King came close up to my 
face and spoke for the sixth part 
of an hour with no sign of rage, 
but in a kind of firm way ; as he 
spoke he held out his hand to 
point in front of him, which, as I 
found out by and by, was where 
the chief town was, where the 
lords and dukes of the King had 
made up their minds that I should 
go. I made signs to show that I 


18 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


should like to be set free, but he 
shook his head to show that he 
did not think that a good plan, 
but he let me know that I should 
have as much meat and drink as 
I had need of, and that they 
would all be kind to me. I 
thought I would try once more to 
burst my bonds, but when I felt 
the smart of the darts on my face 
and hands, which were quite sore, 
and as I saw that the crowd of 
my small foes grew more and 
more dense, all the time, I let 


TO LILLIPUT. 


19 


them know that they might do 
with me what they chose. On 
this the duke and his train said 
good-bye and went off with low 
bows. They now spread on my 
hands and face some salve that 
had a sweet smell, which in a 
short time took out all the smart 
of the darts, and this, with the 
food and drink that I had had, 
made me feel like sleep. When 
some months had gone by, they 
told me * that those who knew 
what drugs to use, had been told 


20 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


by the King to put some stuff in 
my wine that would make me 
sleep, so that they could raise me 
up and sling me in a cart, which 
was to take me to the chief town. 
They thought that if I went to 
sleep, I should not feel them move 
me, and there would be less fear 
that I should do them harm. It 
took a great crowd of men to do 
this work, and hard work it was. 
It was done with great skill, by 
means of ropes and beams ; it 
took a long train of mules to drag 












TO LILLIPUT. 


21 


me to the chief town of Lilli- 
put, which was half a mile off ; I 
mean one of our miles, not the 
miles of these small men. I did 
not wake till we had been four 
hours on the way. We spent 
that night on the road. They 
put a long row of guards on each 
side of me ; half of them held lights, 
and half had bows and darts, to 
shoot me if I tried to stir. We 
set out once more at dawn of day, 
and when it was near noor* 
but four score yard 


22 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


gates of the town. The King 
and all his court came out to meet 
us, but his great men would not 
let him run the risk of harm, 
which they thought might come 
to him if he went too near me. 
The cart in which they took me, 
had come to a stop near an old 
church which they thought was 
as big a church as they had 
in their whole land. In this 
church they made up their minds 
T should lodge. The great 
at far from four feet 


TO LILLIPUT. 


23 


high and two feet wide, so that 
I could creep through it with ease. 
On each side of the gate was a 
small door, and through that on 
the left side the King’s smith took 
four score and ten chains, like 
those that hang to a watch in the 
land where I was born. These 
chains they made fast with two 
score locks. On this day, a great 
crowd of the small men, more 
than I could count, came out of 
the town to look at me, and a 
great part of them were so bold as 


24 GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 

to climb up my sides by means 
of steps. But the next day the 
King said that no one should 
climb up my sides on pain of' 
death. When the chains were 
put on my legs, the cords that 
bound me were cut, and they let 
me get up, but when the folks 
saw me rise and walk, no words 
can tell what they thought ; it was 
so new and strange a sight to 
them. When I was on my feet 
the King came forth on a jet 
black horse, but the beast on 


TO LILLIPTJT. 


25 


which he rode was full of fear 
when he saw a great hill, as it 
were, move in front of him, gave a 
plunge and ran back. So the 
King got off his horse, and went 
to look at me, and I dare say he 
thought me a strange sight, but 
he kept out of my reach. I could 
not go far for the chains that 
bound my legs. The Queen and 
the young sons of the King and 
Queen, sat in chairs near the 
King. None of the rest of the 
men were as tall as he was, by 



26 


GULLIVERS VOYAGE 


half the breadth of my nail. His 
dress was not quite like what they 
wear in the far East, and not quite 
like that of the land of my birth, 
but he had on some things that 
are worn in both lands. He 
wore on his head a casque of 
gold, with rich gems in it. From 
the top of it hung a long plume. 
In his hand he held a drawn 
sword one fourth of a foot long, 
whose hilt was set with pearls. 
When it grew night I got in my 
house as well as I could, and there 



TO LILLIFUT. 


27 


I lay on the bare ground till the 
King told them to have a bed 
made for me. A great pile of 
their beds was brought, and laid 
near the church, then eight score 
of them were sewn so as to make 
one big' flat bed ; of these big flat 
beds they made four, so as to make 
it soft for me to lie on. In the 
same way they made me sheets 
and bed spreads, some of which 
were made of wool and quite 
warm. In truth, I, who had led 
such a rough life, found my bed 



28 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


quite a good one. In the mean 
while the King said that from all 
the. farms, that were not more than 
half a mile from the town, they 
must bring me, each morn, six 
beeves, two score sheep, and some 
more meat, and with that as much 
bread as I could eat, with wine 
and drinks of all kinds, and to pay 
for these the King took gold from 
his own purse. They gave me, 
too, a great crowd of men to wait 
on me, who had tents built for 
them, not far from my door, some 


TO LILLIPUT. 


29 


on each side. The King said, 
too, that twelve score men should 
make me a suit of clothes, such as 
they wore in that land, and that 
six of the King’s wise men should 
make it their work to teach me to 
speak like the men of the land, so 
that I should know what they 
meant when they spoke ; and last 
of all, that the King’s pet horse, 
and those of the lords and dukes, 
should move up and down in my 
sight, so that they should lose their 
fear of me. All these things were 

3 * 



30 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


done, just as the King said, and 
in less than three weeks I could 
make out the sense of a great deal 
that they said. In the mean time, 
the King came, now and then, to 
see me, and it gave him joy to help 
the men who came to teach me. 
As I was kind to all who came 
near me, and tried my best to 
please the King and his court, I 
had some hopes that by and by 
they might make me free. The 
men of the land, in time, found 
out that they need not fear that I 


TO LILLIPUT. 


31 


would do them harm. I would 
now and then lie down, and let 
five or six of them dance on my 
hand, and at last the boys and girls 
would dare to play at hide and 
seek in my hair; and now, the 
wise men had taught me so well 
that I knew a great deal of what 
was said near me. One day there 
came a note by mail to tell the 
King that some of his men, as 
they rode near the place where 
they first found me, had seen a 
great black thing which lay on 


32 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


the ground ; it had an odd shape ; 
the edge of it came out round, as 
wide as the room in which the 
King slept, and in the midst, it 
rose up as high as a man ; that it 
had not life, as their fears had 
made them think at first, for it lay- 
on the grass and did not move, 
and some of them had been round 
it two or three times ; that one man 
had been held up by the rest, and 
so had got to the top, which was 
flat and smooth ; they trod hard 
on it, to see what sound their feet 



TO LILLIPUT. 


33 


would make, and they found the 
part on which they stood was not 
thick, and that there was naught 
but air in it, and as well as they 
could judge, they thought it might 
be one of the goods of the man as 
big al? a hill, and if it would please 
the King to have them do so, they 
would bring it, with not more than 
five mules. I soon knew what 
they meant, and was glad at heart 
to hear this piece of news. It 
must have been, that when I first 
got to the shore, when our ship 



34 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


had sunk, I was in such a state 
of mind, that when I had not yet 
got to the place where I went to 
sleep, my hat came off. I had 
tied it with a string to my head, 
and it stuck on all the while I 
swam, but fell off when I h^d got 
to the land. The string, as well 
as I can guess, broke off by some 
chance when I was too sick and 
faint to think of it. I told the 
King that it would give me great 
joy if he would tell his men to 
bring it to me as soon as they 



TO LILLIPUT. 


35 


could, I told him the name and the 
use of it, and the next day the 
man who drove the cart, came 
with it, but not in quite as good a 
state as might be. I had sent 
nine or ten notes to the King to 
beg him to set me free, and at 
length he was so kind as to speak 
of it, first to a few of his best 
friends, and then to all the court. 
They all said they thought it 
would do no harm to set me free, 
and so the King said it should 
be so. Two men of high rank 



36 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


brought me the note of the King, 
which said that if I would do 
some things which they would 
like to have me do, and would not 
do some things which they would 
not like to have me do, I should 
be set free. As it may be that 
you would like to know what all 
these things were, that I must or 
must not do, and the style in which 
the men of that land wrote and 
spoke, I here give you the whole 
thing as near as I can in our words, 
which are not at all like theirs : 



TO LILLIPUT. 37 

“ From the great and wise King 
of Lilliput, the joy and fear of all 
the world, at whose nod the Kings 
of the earth shake their knees, kind 
as the Spring, full of joys as the 
months that come next to the 
Spring, rich as the Fall, and whom 
men should fear as they fear the 
ice and snow in the cold part of 
the year. This great King says 
to the man as high as a hill, that 
if he will give his word that he 
will do all the things that are put 
down here, he shall be set free. 



38 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


1. The man as high as a hill 
shall not leave our land till we give 
him leave, with our great seal to 
the note that says he may go. 

2. He shall not be so bold as 
to come in our great town when 
we do not give him leave; and 
then he must not come till the 
folks in the town have all heard of 
it, that they may all keep in doors. 

3. The man as high as a hill 
shall take his walks in no streets 
but our high roads, and not walk or 
lie down in a field of grass or corn 



TO LILLIPUT. 39 

4. As he walks the said roads, 
he shall take great care not . to 
knock down, or tread on, one of 
our dear men, his horse, or his 
coach ; and he shall not take one 
of our men in his hands, if they do 
not tell him he may. 

5. If there is a note that must 
go in great haste, the man as high 
as a hill shall take up in his arms 
the man who- has charge of it, and 
his horse, and take them a six days 
trip, and bring the said man, (if we 
wish him to do so,) safe back to us. 







40 


GULLIVERS VOYAGE 


6. He shall be our friend, and 
help us fight all our foes ; and he 
shall do his best to sink their fleet, 
which is now on its way to our land. 

7. That the said man as high 
as a hill shall, when he has time, 
aid and help us to raise some 
great stones which are to go on 
the tops of the wall of the great 
park, and on the King’s new house. 

8. When he gives his word that 
he will do all the things here put 
down, the said man as high as a 
hill shall have as much meat and 


TO LILLIPUT. 


41 


drink each day as would feed 
1724 of our men. He shall come 
lessee me when he likes, and have 
still more marks of my good will. 
Sent from our own house, the 
twelfth day dT the fifth month of 
the twelfth year of our reign.” 
With a gay heart I gave them 
my word that I would do all the 
things that were here set down ; 
so they took off my chains and 1 
was free. The King was so kind 
as to stand by, while they struck 
off my chains. I fell down at his 


42 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


feet to give him thanks, but he told 
me to rise. He said some kind 
words of praise, which I will not 
speak of, lest I should be thought 
vain. He then went on ,o say 
that he was in hopes that I should 
prove of great use to him, and by 
my good deeds pay him well for 
all the kind things he had done 
for me so far, and all that he meant 
to do. When I was set free, the 
first thing that I had to ask was, 
that I might have leave to see the 
great town; this the King said 


TO LILLIPUT. 


43 


I should do, and told me to take 
great care to do no harm to the 
folks or their homes. He sent 
word to the men in the town, that in 
two hours I should be there to see 
all that was to be seen. The wall 
which goes round it is two feet 
and a half high, not quite a foot 
broad, and for each ten feet of wall 
there is a strong fort. The great 
gate on the West side I did not 
go through, but on top of. I did 
not have on my coat, but just 
wore my short vest for fear I might 



44 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


do some harm to the roofs with 
the skirts of my coat. I went with 
as great care as I could,, lest I 
should tread on some men who 
might stay in the streets, though 
the King had sent them word 
that all the folks should keep in 
their own homes, for if they did 
not, they might lose their lives ; the 
top of each house had on it a great 
crowd of men, and I thought that 
in all my life I had not seen a town 
with more men in it. The King 
had a great wish that I should see 


TO LILLIPUT. 


45 


what a grand house he had, so 
when I came to the court next to 
the house, I bent down to look in. 
The King had left word that the 
blinds were not to be shut, for it 
was his wish that I should have 
a good look. The rooms that I 
saw, were so fine that it was a joy 
to my eyes to look at them. There 
I saw the Queen and her young 
sons, and with them were some of 
those whose place it was to wait 
on them. The Queen gave me a 
sweet smile, and was so kind as to 



46 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


push up the sash, and, through it, 
give me her hand to kiss. If you 
have a taste for things that are odd, 
it may please you if I tell you what 
kind of work those whose place 
it was to wait on me had to do, 
and my way of life in that land, 
where I dwelt nine months and 
twelve days. As I knew how 
to use some kinds of tools, 
and as there were some things 
that no one could do for me, I had 
made a chair and a small stand 
which were of great use to me 


TO LILLIPUT. 


47 


I made them out of as large trees 
as could be found in the King’s 
park. It was the work of ten score 
girls to make me shirts and sheets 
for my bed; they made them all 
of what they thought rough and 
coarse stuff, but they had to fold 
them four times and then sew 
them up, for what they thought 
thick, were to me like fine lawn. 

When the girls had to make a 
shirt that would fit me, I la) 
down, on the ground, and three 
girls came to see how long the 



48 GULLIVERS VOYAGE 

shirt must be. One of them 
stood at my neck and one at my 
knee ; these two each held one 
end of a long cord, while the third 
took the length of the cord, with 
a rule an inch long. Then they 
put a cord round my thumb to 
see how big it was, for they 
said that twice round the thumb is 
once round the wrist, and so on 
with the neck and waist, and by the 
help of my old shirt, which I laid 
on the ground in front of them, to 
serve them as a guide, they made 


TO LILLIPUT. 


49 


me some new shirts which were 
quite a good fit. Twelve score 
men were, in the same way, to 
make my clothes ; but they found 
out the length of them in quite 
a new way. They told me to 
kneel down, and then they got 
a long flight of steps ; one of them 
went up it and when at the top 
he let a line drop from my neck 
to the floor, which just gave them 
the length of my coat, but my 
waist and arms / took the length 
of, and gave it to them. When 



50 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


my clothes were made, they were 
like the kind of work that girls 
make to put on beds in the land 
of my birth ; but they were all 
made from the same piece of cloth, 
so that they were all the same 
shade. I had twelve score cooks 
to dress my food ; they had twelve 
score huts built near my house, in 
which they dwelt, and they each 
made me two plates full of food. 
I took up a score of men in my 
hand and put them on the stand 
I had made, five score more 


TO LILLIP UT. 


51 


stood on the ground at the foot of 
the stand, some with plates of 
meat, and some with pails of wine 
and some more things to drink, 
slung on their backs, all of which 
the men on the stand drew up 
when I had need of them, with 
great skill, by means of cords, as 
we draw up a pail in a well in the 
land I came from. A dish of their 
meat made one bite, and a pail of 
their wine was not much of a 
drink. I have had a round of 
beef so large that I have had to 



52 


GULLIVERS VOYAGE 


make three bites of it ; but this is 
rare. Their geese and ducks I take 
at one bite, and I must say that 
ours are not so good as theirs are. 
Of their small fowl I could take 
up ten or twelve at the end of my 
knife. One day the King, when 
he was told of my way of life, 
said that he and the Queen and 
their boys and girls, would like to 
have the joy, as he was so kind as 
to call it, of a meal with me. So 
they came, and I put them in 
chairs of state, on my stand, close 



TO LILLIPTJT. 


53 


to me, with their guards round 
them. The man who took care 
of the King’s gold was there too, 
with his white staff, and I saw 
him glance at me from time to 
time, with a sour look, which I 
did not seem to care for, but ate 
more than was my wont, that I 
might show the King and the 
court, how the men of the land I 
came from could eat. One day 
the man whose place it was to 
write all the notes for the King 
came to me and said he would 

5 * 



54 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


like to speak to me when no one 
was by. I said that I would lie 
down that he might reach my ear 
with more ease, but he chose to 
let me hold him in my hand while 
we spoke. “ It is the King’s 
wish,” he said, “ that you should 
now do what would be of great 
use to him, for they say that a 
fleet will soon come to fight us 
from an isle near by, where our 
worst foes live ; the name of it is 
Belfuscu. The two great states 
of Lilliput and Belfuscu have, for 



TO LILLIPUT. 55 

three years, had on hand a war 
which has cost us much blood. 
The cause of the war is this : The 
father of the great man who is at 
this time King, when a boy, one 
day ate an egg ; he broke the shell 
at the big end, and as he did so, by 
chance cut his thumb ; so then the 
King, his father, said that all the 
men of the land should, on pain of, 
death, break their eggs at the small 
end. At that time Blefuscu was 
part of the state of Lilliput, and 
the men of the Isle would not do 



56 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


what the King said, but would 
break their eggs on the large end, 
so our King made war on them to 
make them do as they ought. In 
short, the men of that Isle have 
now a great fleet which will come 
to fight with us in a day or two, 
and the King, who knows your 
strength, trusts that you will help 
him.” I took a short time to think 
what I could do, then I told the 
King that I thought the best plan 
would be to seize the fleet of the 
foe in their own port; and the 



TO LILLIPUT. 


57 


King, who thought the plan quite 
a good one, told his men to give 
me all I might need. When I 
had all that I could want for my 
plan, and when I found that the 
stream that had Lilliput on the 
North side and Blefuscu on the 
South side was not more than 
half a mile wide, and at high 
tide not more than six feet deep, 
I put off my coat, shoes and socks 
and went in, at a time when I 
knew that it would be high tide in 
half an hour. I kept my feet on 



58 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


the ground and made all the haste 
I could, till I came near the midst 
of the stream ; then I swam a score 
or two of yards, till I felt ground. 
I came to where the fleet was, in 
less than half an hour. The foe 
were so full of fright when they 
saw me, that they sprang out of 
their ships, and swam to the shore, 
where there stood a vast crowd of 
men to watch them. I then took 
my ropes and stuck a hook in the 
prow of each ship, and tied all the 
cords in a great knot at the end. 



TO LILLIPUT. 


59 


While I did this, the foe did not 
cease to shoot their darts at me, 
some of which stuck in my hands, 
and face ; they both made my face 
and hands smart, and were much 
in my way at my work. My 
great fear was for my eyes, which 
I should no doubt have lost, if I 
had not, all at once, thought of my 
eyeglass. This I took out, and 
made as fast as I could on my 
nose, and with its help, went on 
with my work, in spite of the darts 
of the foe. 



60 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


I had now made all the hooks 
fast, so I took the knot in my 
hand and tried to pull, but not 
a ship would stir, for they were 
all too fast held to the shore 
by their ropes. So I let go the 
cord, with the hooks still in the 
ships, and cut, with my knife, all 
the ropes that made the ships fast 
to the shore ; while I did this, I 
got some ten score shots in my face 
and hands : then I took up the 
knot at the end of the ropes to 
which my hooks were tied, and 


TO LILLIPUT. 


61 


with great ease drew off with me 
three score of the foe’s large men 
of war. The foe, who did not 
guess at all what I meant to do, 
were at first struck dumb with 
fear. They had seen me cut the 
ropes, and thought all I meant to 
do was to let the ships drift loose, 
or strike on the rocks of the shore, 
but when they saw the whole fleet 
move off in a row, and saw too 
that I had ropes tied to the end of 
them, they set up such a scream 
of rage, that one who had not 


62 GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 

heard it could not think how such 
a cry would sound. When I had 
got out of their reach, I stood still 
for a short time to pick out the 
darts that stuck in my hands and 
face, and put on them some of the 
same salve that the small men gave 
me when I first came to their 
land. I then took off my eyeglass 
and stood still till the tide was not 
quite so high, then I made my way 
through the midst of the stream 
with my fleet, and came safe to 
land at the port of Lilliput. The 


TO LILLIPUT. 


63 


King and his whole court stood 
on the shore, to see what would 
be the end of this great scheme. 
They saw the ships move from the 
shore in a large half-moon, but 
could not see me, as I was up to 
my breast in the stream ; when I 
came to the midst of the stream, 
they were yet more in pain, for I 
was quite hid up to my neck. 
The king thought that it had been 
my lot to drown in the stream, 
and that the fleet of the foe drew 
near to fight them, but he was 



64 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


soon free from fear, for now, at 
each step that I took, the stream 
grew less deep. I soon came so 
near, that they could hear my 
voice ; then I held up the end of 
the ropes by which the fleet was 
made fast, and cried out, “ Long 
live the great and wise King of 
Lilliput.” This great Prince met 
me when I came to the land, with 
great praise, and made me a duke 
on the spot, and duke is as high 
a name as the King of that land 
can give. Some three weeks from 


TO LILL1PUT. 


65 


the time when I took the fleet, 
there was a note brought by two 
of the dukes from Blefuscu, in 
which the men of that isle said that 
they would be glad to make peace, 
which was soon done, on the best 
terms that could be for our Prince. 
When all the terms of the peace 
were drawn up, the dukes from 
Blefuscu paid me a call in due 
form. When they had been with 
me for some time, I said that I 
should like them to be so kind as to 
speak^of me to their King, whom 



66 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


I should like to go and see ; as I 
had not yet the good luck to get 
back to my own land, I thought I 
would see all I could in this part 
of the world. So the next time I 
went to see our King, I told him 
I should like to pay a call on the 
King of Blefuscu; he told me I 
might go, but did so in a cold way 
that he had not till then shown me. 
But at night when I went to my 
room to pack up my things so that 
I might go in two or three days 
to see the King of Blefuscu, a duke 



TO LILLIPUT. 


67 


who was much thought of at court, 
came to my house with no one 
with him, in a close cab. He did 
not send up his name, but said he 
would like to see me. He said 
“How do you do ?” and as he did so 
I saw that his face was full of grief. 
I made so bold as to ask him the 
cause of it, and he told me to hear 
what he had to say to the end, for 
if I did not, it might cost me my 
good name, or my life, or both. 
“ You must know,” said he, “ that 
the man who has charge of the 



68 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


King’s gold, hates you with all his 
heart ; for the King has made you 
a duke, while he is but a knight ; 
and he has made the King think 
that your wish to go to Blefuscu is 
a sign that in your heart you do 
not care for our King. He has told 
all the men of the court, that the 
food you eat, and the pay of the 
men who wait on you, takes more 
than half of the gold in the King’s 
bank ; and all the wise men of the 
court are to meet in three days 
time, to talk of you, and to make 


TO LILLIPUT. 


69 


up their minds in what way it will 
be best to get rid of you. I leave 
it to you to think what had best 
be done to save your life, and as 
great harm might come to me, if 
I were found here with you, I will 
now go as I came, and hope no 
one will know that I have been 
here. He did so, and I soon made 
up my mind to start the next day foi 
Blefuscu. I went to that side of the 
Isle where our fleet lay. I took a 
large man of war, tied a rope to the 
prow, and cut the ropes that made 



70 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


it fast to the shore, then I took off 
my clothes and put them, and my 
sheets and bed-spread, which I 
had in my arms, in the ship and 
took it off with me. Where the 
stream was not too deep, I could 
wade ; where it was too deep for 
that, I swam, and soon got to the 
port of Blefuscu, where the folks 
had for some time thought I would 
come. They lent me two guides 
to show me the way to the chief 
town, which is of the same name 
as the Isle. I held these guides 


TO LILLIPUT. 


71 


in my hands, till I was but one 
eighth of a mile from the gate ; thei 
I told them to tell one of the men 
who wrote all the King’s notes for 
him, that I had come, and to let 
him know that I would wait there 
till I heard from their King. In 
less than an hour I got word from 
the King that he and his Queen, 
and their boys and girls, and all 
the great men of the court, would 
come out to meet me. I went on, 
five score yards. The King and 
his train got off their mules, the 



72 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


Queen and her maids got out of 
her coach, and I was glad to see 
that none of them had the least 
fear of me. I lay on the ground 
to kiss the hands of the King and 
Queen. I told the King that I 
had come as I had said I would, 
with the leave of the King whose 
land I had come from; and that 
I was proud to see so great a King 
as the one who now stood in front 
of me. 

It would but tire you, if I told 
you all the things I did and said, at 


TO LILLIPUT. 


73 


this court ; or how much I felt 
the want of a house and bed. 
When I had been there three 
days, I took a walk to the North- 
east coast of the Isle, just to see 
what kind of a coast it was. 
When I got there I saw, not 
more than half a league off in the 
sea, what I took for a boat, up 
side down. I took off my shoes 
and socks, and went in the sea. 
When I had not yet got as far as 
a fourth of a mile, there was no 
more doubt in my mind that it 

i 




74 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


was a boat, which I think might, 
by some storm, have been lost 
from a ship. I went straight back 
to the town, and told the King 
that I should like him to lend me 
a score of the best ships he had 
left, since the loss of his fleet, all 
full of men, with a good and wise 
man at their head. This fleet 
went round, while I went back a 
short way to the coast where I 
had first seen the boat, and I 
found that the tide had come to 
my aid, for the boat was not so far 


TO LILLIPUT. 


75 


off as when first I saw it. The men 
all had ropes, and I had had the 
good sense to twist two or three in 
one,, to make them strong. When 
the ships came up, I took off my 
clothes, and by good luck, found 
I could wade till I was but five 
score yards from the boat, then I 
had to swim till I got up to it. 
The men threw me one end of a 
cord which I made fast to a hole in 
the front part of the boat, and one 
end I made fast to a ship ; but as I 
was out of my depth I could not 



76 


GULLIVER’S VOYAGE 


work much. So I had to swim 
at the back of the boat, and push 
the boat on, as well as I could, 
with one of my hands ; and as the 
tide came to my aid, I soon got so 
far, that I could just hold up my 
chin and feel the ground. I stood 
still for a short time and gave the 
boat one more shove ; and so on 
till the sea was not as high as my 
arm pits ; and now that the hard 
part of the work was done, I took 
the rest of my ropes, and made 
them fast, first to the boat, and 


TO LILLIPUT. 


77 


then to nine of the ships that 
went out with me ; the wind 
came to our aid, and I told the men 
to pull at the front, and I would 
push at the back, and so we did, 
till we were but two score yards 
from the shore. There we made 
it fast, and did no more to it till the 
tide was out. Then I got dry to 
the boat, and with the help of a 
great crowd of men with ropes I got 
it to turn right side up, and found 
there was not much harm done to 
it. A great crowd of folks stood 



78 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


on the shore to watch me, and did 
not know what to think of so huge 
a boat. I told the King that my 
good luck had thrown this boat in 
my way, to take me to some place 
whence I might get back to my 
own dear land ; ’ and I told him I 
would thank him if he would give 
me the things I should need to fit 
it up, and his leave to go. He 
gave me the things I had need of, 
and though he said it would give 
him great pain to have me leave 
him so soon, he said I might go. 



TO LILLIPUT. 


79 


While I made my boat fit to start, 
a man came from Lilliput, to the 
court of Blefuscu, and said that ,1 
had fled from the hands of the law, 
and that if I did not go back in 
two hours, I should lose the rank 
of duke, and the whole world 
should call me a scamp. The 
man said, too, that to keep the 
peace in the two states, it was the 
view of the King of Lilliput, that 
the King of Blefuscu should hav( 
me sent back to Lilliput, bound 
hand and foot, there to meet 



80 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


with the death due to one who 
had been false to his King and his 
land. The King of Blefuscu took 
three days to think what he ought 
to do; he then sent a note in 
which he took great care not to say 
a thing that was rude. He said 
that the King of Lilliput knew 
that he could not send me bound, 
and that though I took from him 
his fleet, I had done him great 
good when I made peace with 
the King of Lilliput ; but that both 
the Kings would soon have their 



TO LILLIPUT. 


81 


minds at ease, for I had found a 
huge boat on the shore, which 
could take me to sea, and he had 
told his men to fit it up, with my 
aid, and he had hopes that both 
the states would soon be freed 
from a great charge which they 
could not well bear. With this 
note the man went back to Lilli- 
put, and what had come to pass 
made me in still more haste to go, 
and the court were glad to lend 
me their aid. A great crowd of 
men were set to work to make 



82 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 


sails for my boat, in the way in 
which I told them to do it. I 
told them to quilt twelve folds of 
their strong white cloth in one, 
which made it quite as thick as 
need be. A great stone that 1 
found by chance, when I had a 
long search for one up and down 
the shore, would, I thought, do to 
drop in the sea where it was not 
deep, to hold the boat fast. I 
had the fat of twelve score cows to 
grease my boat, and for all the 
things that we use fat for, on 



TO LILLIPUT. 83 

board of a boat. I was at great 
pains to cut down some large trees 
for oars and masts ; but in that 1 
had great help from the King’s 
men, who took their planes to 
smooth the boards, when I had 
done the rough work.' In less 
than a month all was- done, and I 
sent . to say that I should like to 
speak to the King and to take my 
leave of him. There was at court 
a man who could paint, and the 
King got him to paint him at full 
length, life size, on a piece of such 



84 GULLIVER'S VOYAGE 

cloth as the men of that land use 
to paint on ; this the King gave 
to me, and I put it in my glove to 
keep it from harm. I told the 
men to kill twelve score sheep and 
still more cows, and to put them 
in the. boat. I told them to put 
there, too, a great deal of bread and 
drink ; and to cook as much more 
meat as twelve score cooks could 
cook, and to put that in too. 
There were six cows and two 
bulls, which I did not kill, but took 
with me just as they were ; I took, 



TO LILLIPUT. 


85 


too, some ewes and lambs. I 
meant to take all these beasts 
home with me to my own land. I 
would have been glad to take 
twelve of the men with me, but 
this was a thing that the King 
would not let me do. I had now 
got my boat in a fit state to start, 
and so I set out on the 4th day of 
June, 1701, at dawn of day. All 
that day and all night I saw no 
one, but the next day at three I 
saw a sail far off to the South. I 

gave as loud a call as I could, but 

8 



86 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE. 


she did not spy me for half an 
hour ; then she hung out her flag, 
and let off a gun. .Words can 
not tell what joy I felt at the hope 
that I should see once more my 
own dear land, and the dear friends 
I had left in it, for at one time I 
thought I should see them no more. 
The ship took in some of her sail, 
and I came up with her in an hour 
or so, and my heart was full of joy 
as I saw the flag of my own land. 
I put my cows and sheep in my 
vest, and got on board with all my 


TO LILLIPUT. 87 

meat and bread. The ship was 
one that was built in my own land, 
and now went back to it from 
the far East, through the South 
Sea. The man who had charge 
of the ship, was a good, kind 
man, and knew well what a good 
ship was, and he was quite kind to 
me. It would but tire you to tell 
you what we did each day ; the 
wind was a fair one and we were 
not long at sea. In two or three 
months we got safe home. I had 
but one piece of bad luck ; the 



88 


GULLIVER'S VOYAGE. 


rats on board, took off one of my 
sheep; the rest of them, as well as 
my cows and bulls, got safe on 
shore, and I put them out to grass 
in a small field near my own 
house, and they thought the grass 
so fine that it gave me joy to see 
them feed. 




I 







ISSl 




PUSS IN BOOTS. 



PUSS IN BOOTS. 


There was once a man whose 
trade was to grind flour ; he had 
three sons, and at his death, he 
left all that he had to them, in this 
way : He gave his mill to the first 
born, his ass to the next, and his 
cat to the third. They did not 
go to law, as some do, to get what 
was theirs, but each took his share ; 
for they thought if they went to 
law, they should just lose what they 
had, and get no good by it. The 


90 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


poor youth who had but the cat 
for his share, thought that his was 
a hard case. “ The rest,” said he, 
“ can put their stocks in one, and 
do well in the world, but I, — I 
may eat my cat, and make a fur 
cap of his skin, and then I may 
die for want of food. The cat, 
who all this time sat near him, 
close to a small door which was 
half shut, now made so bold as to 
come out and speak thus : “ Do 
not grieve so, my good sir; you 
have but to give me a bag and get 



PUSS IN BOOTS. 


91 


a pair of boots made for me, so 
that I may run through the dirt 
and not get caught by the thorns, 
and you shall see that your case is 
not so bad as you think it is. 
Though the youth did not think 
much of this speech, yet as he had 
seen some of the sly tricks of 
Puss, he did not feel quite so sad. 
For Puss could hide in the meal 
or hang by the hind legs, to make 
the rats and mice think he was 
dead, and had in all such things a 
great deal of skill. When the cat 


92 PUSS IN BOOTS. 

had got what he had been so bold 
as to ask for, in great joy he put 
on his new things. He drew on 
his boots ; then he put the bag at 
the back of his neck, and took 
hold of the strings with his fore 
paws. He then told the youth to 
keep up a good heart, and off he 
went. The first thing that Puss 
did was to go to a place where 
there were some hares. He put 
some bran and some fresh green 
leaves such as hares like in his 
bag ; then he lay down at full 


i 



PUSS IN BOOTS. 


93 


length as if he were dead. He 
meant to wait for some young 
hares who did not yet know the 
tricks of the world, to get in the 
bag, so as to eat the nice things he 
had put in it. He had but just 
lain down, when just what he 
thought of came to pass. A 
young hare, who did not think 
much, crept in the bag, and the cat 
at once drew the strings, and put 
an end to his life. Puss, proud of 
his prey, went straight to the 
house of the King, where he sent 



94 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


word that he would like to speak 

to him. When they brought him 

to the room of the King, he made 

a low bow and said, “ I have 
* 

brought you, sire, this hare, from 
my lord the Marquis of. Carabas, 
who told me to give it to you, 
and to tell you that he would be 
glad to serve you with his whole 
heart and his life.” (The Mar- 
quis of Carabas, was the name 
P uss thought best to give to the 
poor young man, whose father 
left him in his will naught but a 



95 


■*- 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


cat.) “ Tell my lord Marquis of 
Carabas,” said the King, “ that I 
will take his gift with joy and 
give him my thanks for it.” In 
a few days more, the cat lay down 
in the same way, in a field of 
corn, and had as much good luck 
as the last time, for two fine quails 
went in his bag, which he fook 
at once to the King’s house. 
The King took them as he had 
done the hare, and told his men 
to give Puss a good drink. In 
this way, from time to time he took 



96 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


a gift of some game to the King 
from my lord the Marquis of Car- 
abas, at least once in each week. 
One day the cat heard that the 
King meant to take a ride that day, 
by the bank of the stream, with 
his child, who was as fair a Prin- 
cess as can be found in the whole 
world. Puss said to the young 
man, to whom he had been left in 
the will, “ If you will but do as I 
tell you, you will grow rich and 
great. Take off your clothes and 
bathe in the stream, in the place I 



PUSS IN BOOTS. 


97 


shall show you, and leave the rest 
to me.” The Marquis of Carabas 
did just as he was told, though he 
could not guess what the cat meant 
to do. While he was in the stream 
the King drove by, and Puss cried 
as loud as he could bawl: “ Help! 
help! my lord the Marquis of Car- 
abas will drown if no one comes 
to help him.” When the King 
heard the cries, he put his head out 
of the coach to see where they 
came from. When he saw the 
same cat who had brought him so 



98 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


much game, he told his men to 
go at once to help my lord the 
Marquis of Carabas. While they 
took the Marquis out of the stream 
the cat ran to the King’s coach 
and told him that while the Mar- 
quis was in the stream, some 
thieves had run off with his clothes 
as they lay on the bank ; the sly 
cat all this time had hid them with 
a large stone. When the King 
heard this, he told the men who 
took care of his clothes, to bring 
one of the best suits that he had, 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


and give it to my lord Marquis 
of Carabas. The clothes they 
brought him made him look like 
a fine young man of sense and 
taste, as in truth he wag. The 
Princess was much struck with 
his looks, and when the Marquis 
of Carabas had cast on her a 
glance or two, she fell quite in love 
with him. The King said that 
he must get in his coach and take 
a ride with them. The cat, glad 
to see how well his scheme would 
work, ran on to a field where the 



100 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


men cut the corn ; he said to them 
“ Good friends, if you do not tell 
the King, who will soon pass . this 
way, that the fields you are in is 
the land of my lord Marquis of 
Carabas, I will chop you as small 
as mince meat.” The King did 
not fail to ask the men whose field 
it was they were in. “It is the 
land of my lord Marquis of Car- 
abas,” said they all at once; for 
the threats of the cat had put them 
in a great fright. “ Y ou have here 
a fine piece of land, my lord Mar- 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


101 


quis,” said the King. “ In truth, 
sire,” said he, “it does not fail to 
bring me in, each year, a good 
crop.” The cat still went on in 
front of the coach, where there 
were some more men ; these men 
made sheaves of the corn. To 
these men, as to the rest, he said, 
“ Good friends, if you do not tell 
the King, who will soon pass this 
way, that the corn that is in this 
field is the corn of the Marquis 
of Carabas, I will chop you as 
small as mince meat. The King 



102 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


soon drove by, and did not fail to 
ask, whose all that corn was. 
'‘It is the corn of my lord the 
Marquis of Carabas,” said they at 
once; and then the King spoke 
to the Marquis of the fine land he 
had. The cat still went on in 
front of the coach, and gave the 
same charge to all the men he 
met with ; so that the King was 
quite struck with the great wealth 
of my lord the Marquis of Cara- 
bas. Puss at length came to a 
grand house, built of stone, where 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


103 


there dwelt a wild and fierce man. 
No one in the land was so rich as 
he, for all the lands the King went 
through, and thought so fine, were 
his. The cat took care to learn 
all he could of the fierce man, and 
what he could do, and then told 
the men he should like to speak to 
this fierce man ; and when he 
came to his room, he said that as 
he had to pass so near his house, 
he thought he would go in and 
ask him how his health was. 
The fierce man was by no means 



104 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


rude, and told him to sit down. 
“ I have been told,” said the cat, 
“ that you have such a rare gift, 
that you can change to all sorts of 
beasts, such as a wolf, a bear, or a 
horse.” “ It is quite true,” said 
the fierce man, in a harsh tone, 
“ and to show you that I speak the 
truth, I willat once take the form 
of a wolf.” The cat was now in 
such a fright, to find that he was 
so near a wolf, that he sprang 
from him, and ran up to the roof 
of the house, but it was quite 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


105 


hard for him, as his boots were 
not fit to walk on the tiles. Soon, 
as the cat saw that the fierce man 
had no more the form of a wolf, 
he came down from the tiles. “ I 
have been told, too,” said the cat, 
“ but this I can not think true, that 
you can take the form of a small 
beast too ; a rat or a mouse or 
some such thing ; but that, I 
know can not be true. ’ “ Not 

true ! you shall see,” and at once he 
took the form of a mouse and ran 
on the floor, round the room. As 


106 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


soon as the cat cast his eyes on 
the fierce man in that form, he 
sprang on him and ate him up. 
In the mean time the King drew 
near to the house of the fierce 
man, and told his men to drive up 
to the gates, as he would like to 
see it close by. The cat, when 
he heard the noise of the coach on 
the bridge, came out and said, 
“We are all glad to see you, at 
the house of my lord the Marquis 
of Carabas.” “And is this fine 
house yours, too, my lord Marquis 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


107 


of Carabas ? Pray, my lord, let me 
go through it and look at it.” 
The Marquis gave his hand to 
the young Princess to help her 
out. The King went in front and 
the Marquis and the Princess next. 
They went to a large hall where 
they found a rich feast, which the 
fierce man had got for some friends 
who he thought would make him 
a call that day. But when they 
heard that the King was there, 
they did not dare to go in. the 
King found the young Marquis 



108 


PUSS IN BOOTS. 


of Carabas, so rich and so wise and 
so good, and the young Princess 
too was so much in love with him, 
that in a short time the King said, 
“ It will be your own fault, my lord 
Marquis of Carabas, if you are not 
soon my son-in-law. The Mar- 
quis heard this news with thanks, 
and took the Princess for his wife 
that same day. The cat was 
made a great lord, and did not 
catch rats and mice when he did 
not chose to do so. 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 

All the world must have heard 
of Goody Two Shoes, for this 
young girl grew to be so well 
known, that more than one man 
has tried to write her life. And 
her tale has not been at all times 
told the same way, by the men 
who told or wrote it. She was 
born in a land that is not on this 
side of the sea ; but in that land, as 
in this, the laws are as just and 
good to the poor man, as to the 



8 GOODY TWO SHOES. 

man who is rich and great, and 
has as much gold as he knows 
what to do with ; and the poor 
man who lives in a low hut by the 
way side, is just as free as the 
sons of the King. The true name 
of this young girl, whom we call 
Goody Two Shoes, was Madge 
Meanwell. Her father had a 
small farm, not far from the town 
of Mouldwell, and at one time he 
was quite well off. But it was 
the will of God that his lot should 
be a sad one. Things went wrong 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


9 


on the farm, he grew poor, and 
was, at last, quite in want. The 
farm of poor Mr. Mean well was 
sold to pay those to whom he 
was in debt, for he was too good 
a man to keep a farm, which, now, 
it would not be right to call his 
own. Those to whom he was 
in debt, thought well of him when 
they saw him part with all that he 
had to pay all the debts he could, 
and they took what part of their 
claims he could give them, and 
and did not find fault, and scold, 



10 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


that he could not pay them quite 
all he owed. That is to say, they 
all did so but one ; that one was 
Sir Thomas Gripe, who had great 
wealth but not a kind heart ; in 
short, he was one of those men 
who grab all they can get, and 
will not part with a cent to help 
those who are in need. He made 
up his mind that he would go to 
law with poor Meanwell, and get 
what was due to him, or else 
have him shut up in a cell where 
in those days they kept those who 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


11 


did not pay their debts. Poor 
Meanwell, to keep out of the way 
of this man with a hard heart, left 
the land of his birth, and with his 
wife and boy and girl, went to 
a strange land. There no one 
knew what a good and true man 
he was, so no one would give him 
work ; to make things worse, he 
caught a bad cold, for want of 
clothes . to keep him warm ; this, 
with the grief and care he felt as 
he thought of the sad lot of those 
who were most dear to him, was 



12 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


soon the cause of his death. 
When his poor wife saw that he 
was dead it broke her heart ; she 
did not live more than two days 
more, and then died and left 
Madge and her young brother 
Tom to the wide world. When 
their mother was dead it would 
have done your heart good to see 
how fond the girl was of the boy, 
and the boy of her. They were 
rich in love, but they were poor in 
all things else, and as they had no 
father or mother, or friends to 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


13 


take care of them, they were all in 

rags ; as for Tom, he had two 

shoes, but Madge had but one. 

For some days they had no food 

to eat but some fruit that they got 

from the hedge at the side of the 

road, and a few crusts of bread 

that some poor folks gave them, 

and at night they lay down and 

slept in a barn. They had some 

great aunts, but 'these great aunts 

would not speak to them ; no, they 

were rich, and too proud to own 

a poor girl like Madge, all in rags, 
2 



14 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


or a small boy like Tom, whose 
curls hung down on his face, with 
no aid from brush or comb, and 
whose clothes were by no means 
free from dirt. The friends of 
some folks will not speak to them 
when they are poor, but when they 
get rich they grow fond of them, 
and this will at all times be the 
case with those who love gold 
more than true worth. But such 
bad folks, who love naught but 
gold, and are proud and do not 
care for the poor, are not apt to 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


15 


come to a good end, as we shall 
see by and by. 

Mr. Smith was a good priest, 
whose home was in the town 
where Madge was born, but as he 
had but a small church, from 
which he did not get much pay, 
he could not do as his heart bade 
him, and help all those whom he 
knew were in need of help. As 
he had known Mr. Mean well, 
when he had his farm and was 
quite rich, he would have been glad 
to be of use to his poor boy and 



16 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


girl, who now had no father or mo- 
ther to take care of them. It came 
to pass that a friend of his came to 
see him, who was a good kind 
man, and Mr. Smith, by his wish, 
sent for the boy and girl to come 
to him. The kind man said that 
Madge should have a new pair of 
shoes, and he gave her some gold 
to buy clothes, and said he would 
take Tom and send him to sea, so 
he had nice new clothes made for 
him. When some days had gone 
by, this kind man went back to the 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


17 


great town he had come from, and 
took with him Tom, of whom 
you will know more by and by ; 
for we shall at a fit time tell you 
some of the things that came to 
pass in his life. When this boy 
and girl had to part, it was in truth 
a sad sight. Tom cried and Mar- 
gery cried, and she gave him a 
kiss more than ten times, and he 
did the same thing to her. At 
last Tom tried to wipe off her 
tears with the end of his coat, and 

bade her cry no more, for that he 

2 * 



18 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


would come to see her as soon as 
he got back from sea. When 
night came, poor Madge grew full 
of grief and care, as she thought 
of Tom, and when she had sat up 
as late as Mr. Smith would let her, 
she went to bed to cry there. 
Poor Margery got up at dawn the 
next day, and ran all round the 
town and cried for Tom, and 
when some hours had gone by, 
she came back with a heart full of 
grief. But just then, the man who 
made shoes, came in with the new 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


19 


shoes, that the kind friend of Mr. 
Smith had told him to make to fit 
her. I do not know what could 
have made poor Madge bear the 
great grief she was in, if it had nol 
been for the joy she had in her 
new shoes. She ran out to Mrs. 
Smith as soon as they were put 
on, and held up her frock so that 
she could see the shoes, and cried 
out, “Two shoes, Ma’am, see! 
two shoes.” And she did the 
same thing to all the folks she 
met, and by that means she got 


20 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


the name of Goody Two Shoes. 
But the young girls of the town, 
who at times came to play with 
her, though it fun to call her old 
Goody Two Shoes. Mr. and 
Mrs. Smith would have been 
quite glad, if they had been rich, 
to keep poor Madge for their 
own child ; but as they found 
that they could not do that they 
had to trust her to God. As 
Madge had seen how good, and 
how wise, Mr. Smith was, she 
thought the cause of it must be 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


21 


that he knew so much more than 
the rest of the men in the town. 
So she took it in her head, that, 
more than all things, she would 
like to learn to read. But in 
those days there were no schools 
at the church, on the first day of 
the week, for girls to go to. So 
at first she was much at a loss to 
know how to learn; but at last 
she made up her mind to ask 
Mr. Smith to be so good as to 
teach her, when he had time. 
He said he would be quite glad 



22 GOODY TWO SHOES. 

to do so, and so Madge went to 
him for one hour each morn, for 
he had no more time than that to 
spare. By this means she soon 
came to know more than the girls 
she went to play with, and she 
made a plan to teach those who 
knew less than she did. This 

i 

was the plan : Now that she 
knew her a , b , c, she found how 
few such signs we need to read 
and spell ; for there are but twice 
ten and six to spell all the words 
in the world ; but as some of these 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


23 


are large and some small, she cut 
out of a thin piece of wood ‘ten 
sets of each. Then she got an 
old book, the first that Mr. Smith 
gave her when he taught her to 
spell, and made the girls set up 
all the words they said they would 
like to spell, and when they could 
make words with ease, she taught 
them to make a phrase. You 
know what a phrase is my dear : 
“ I will be good,” is a phrase, and 
is made up of some words. The 
way they had to spell, or play the 



24 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


game was this : If they had to 
spell mince pie, which is quite a 
good thing, the girls all stood in 
a ring, and the first girl brought an 
m, the next girl brought an i, the 
next an n, the next a c, the next an e, 
and so on, till it was all done, and 
if one girl brought an m when she 
should have brought an n, or some 
such wrong thing as that, she had 
to pay a fine, or play no more. 
This made them learn while they 
were at their play, and each morn 
she went round to teach the girls, 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


25 


with her a, b, c s in a box. I once 
went the rounds with her and 
thought it was great fun. The 
first house we came to was Mr. 
Wilson’s; he had a fine farm of his 
own. Here Madge meant to stop ; 
so she ran to the door. Tap, 
tap, tap ! “ Who’s there ? ” “No 
one but Goody Two Shoes,” said 
Madge ; “ I have come to teach 
Billy.” “ Oh Goody, dear,” says 
Mrs. Wilson, with joy in her face, 
“ I am glad to see you ; it will 


26 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


come, for he knows quite well the 
words you gave him to learn.” 
Then out came the small boy. 
“How do, Doody Two Shoes?” 
said he, for he could not speak 
plain. So she went in, as was her 
wont, and gave him some new 
words to learn. When we had 
left Mr. Wilson’s, the next place 
we came to was Mr. Simpson’s ; 
he too had a fine farm. “ Bow, wow, 
wow ! ” said the dog. “ Sir,” said 
Mr. Wilson’s wife, “ why do you 
bark at Goody Two Shoes? 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


27 


Come in, Madge ; here, Sally is in 
great need of you; she knows all 
her a, b , c.” When she had heard 
Sally say her a, b, c off she went 
to Mr. Cook’s house. Here some 
poor boys and girls were met to 
learn, who all came round Madge, 
so she took out her bits of wood, 
and said to a small boy who stood 
close to her, “ What did you have 
to eat at noon to day ?” lie said 
“ Bread.” “ Then we will spell 
it,” she said ; “ what must you put 
up first ?” He put up the B ; then 



28 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


the boy who stood next put up an 
r, the next e , the next a, the next 
d ’ and that was bread. “ And 
what did you eat for lunch to day, 
Polly Gomb ?” “ Plum pie,” said 
the girl, who was quite small ; so 
the one next in turn set up a great P, 
and the next an /, the next a u, 
and so on till the words Plum and 
Pie were set up side by side, and 

stood thus Plum Pie. As she 

went through the town, she met 
with some bad boys who had got 
a large black bird which they 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


29 


meant to throw stones at. She 
thought she would like to get the 
poor thing out of their rough 
hands, so she gave them two cents 
for him and brought him home. 
She gave him the name of Ralph, 
and a fine bird he was. And she 
thought how Noah, in the days of 
the flood, had sent out a large 
black bird, like this, to see if the 
flood was dried up on the face of 
the earth. And then she thought 
how our Lord, when he was on 
earth, spoke of birds, and said 

3 * 


30 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


“ The fox has his hole, and the 
birds of the air have their nests, 
but the Son of Man hath not 
where to lay his head.” Now 
this bird was one of those that 
can be taught to speak ; so she 
taught it to speak, to spell, and 
to read ; and as he was quite fond 
of the bits of wood that the girls 
and boys had to spell with, they 
used to call this Ralph’s A, B, C. 


A, B, C, D, E, F, G, 
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


31 


O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, 

V, W, X, Y, Z. 

% 

When she had the big, black bird 
for some days, as she took a walk 
in the fields, she saw some bad 
boys, who had caught a dove, 
and tied a string to its legs, so as to 
let it fly and then draw it back 
when they chose ; and by this 
means they gave the poor bird the 
hope that it might get free, and 
then gave him a pull back to show 
him that they did not mean to let 

1 



32 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


him go. She bought this dove 
too, and taught him how to spell 
and read, though not to talk ; and 
he did all those strange things 
which are told of the bird, well 
known to fame, who some time 
since was shown in all the large 
towns, and whom all the great 
men of the land came to see. 
This dove was a fine large bird, 
and she gave him the name of 
Tom. And as Black Ralph was 
fond of the large bits of wood, 
Tom the dove took care of the 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


33 




small ones, of which he made this 
a, b y c. 

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, 1, m, n, 
o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. 

Mrs. Williams, who kept a school 
to teach young folks how to say 
their A, B, C, was at this time 
quite old, and some days she felt 
too weak to teach, so she said she 
would like to give up this great 
trust. When this was told to Sir 
William Dove, he told Mrs. Wil- 
liams to talk to Goody Two Shoes 



34 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


* 

and see how much she knew 
for he thought it might be that 
she could teach in her place. 
This was done, and Mrs. Wil- 
liams spoke quite well of her ; 
what she said of her was this : 
“ That Madge, though she was 
still quite small, knew more than 
all the young girls she had had in 
her school, and had the best head 
and heart of them all. All who 
were in the town thought well of 
Mrs. Williams, and when they 
had heard what she said, it made 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


35 


them think well of Miss Madge, 

o 

for so we must now call her 
Miss Madge thought that this was 
the best part of her life ; but there 
was more joy yet in store for her. 
The great and good God heaps 
up rich gifts on all those who love 
Him, and though for a time He 
may let them be poor and in need, 
and hide the good things that He 
means to do for them from the 
sight of men, yet in the end He 
will crown them with joy, it may 
be on this earth, and no one can 



36 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


* 

doubt that they are so in the bright 
world to come. As soon as she 
came to her new school, she did 
all that she could for the good of 
those who came to her, and most 
of all, for the small boys and girls, 
for whom she felt still more love 
than for the big ones, and those, 
whose father and mother were 
too poor to pay for them she 
taught for no pay but the joy it 
gave her to be with them, for 
they were all good, or if they 
were not so at first, were soon 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


37 


• 

made so by the care she took of 
them. We have told you that the 
school where she taught was that 
which had been kept by Mrs. 
Williams. The room was large, 
and, as she knew that boys and 
girls are made with a wish to 
move from place to place, she put 
her blocks of wood, or a, b , cs, all 
round the school, so that each 
one had to get up from his seat 
and fetch a block or spell a word 
when it came to his turn ; which 
both kept them in health, and put 



38 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


the words in their minds more 
than if they could have made 
them with more ease. The school- 
house was in quite a bad state ; the 
walls were not firm, so that it 
was not quite safe, and the whole 
house was in great want of paint. 
When they told this to Sir Wil- 
liam Dove, he had it built up 
new, and paid for it from his own 
purse, and till that could be 
done, Mr. Grove, who had a farm 
with a good house on it, was so 
kind as to let Miss Two Shoes 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


I 

39 

have his large hall to teach in. 
The house built by Sir William, 
had cut in the stone on the top of 
the door, a boy on the ice with 
skates on and a sled in his hand. 
Miss Two Shoes wrote averse to 
suit it, and had it cut on the stone, 
and paid for it from her own 
purse. While Miss Two Shoes 
was at Mr. Grove’s, which was 
in the midst of the town, she 
taught all the boys and girls in 
the day-time, but that was not 
all ; Mr. Grove’s maids, and all the 



40 GOODY TWO SHOES. 

maids who did not live too far off, 
she taught to read and write when 
it was dark and the lamps were 
lit. Those whose homes were 
near hers, knew how good Miss 
Two Shoes was, (and in fact no 
young girls in all the town were 
as good as she was,) and they gave 
her one day a young lark. Now 
there were some boys and girls 
whose way it was to lie in bed far 
too late ; she thought the lark 
might be of use to her and to 
those she taught, for it would tell 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


41 


them when to get up. “ For he 
that is fond of his bed and lies till 
noon, lives but half of his days ; the 
rest are lost in sleep, which is a 
kind of death.” When she had 
had the lark some days, a poor 
lamb lost its dam, and the man on 
whose farm it was meant to kill 
it, but she bought it of him, and 
brought it home with her, to play 
with the boys and girls, and to 
teach them when to go to bed, for 
it was a rule with the wise men of 
that age to 


42 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


“ Rise with the lark and lie down 
with the lamb'd 

To this lamb she gave the name 
of Will, and a pure white lamb 
he was. As soon as Tip the lark 
and Will the baa lamb were 
brought to the school, that wise 
rogue Black Ralph made up this 
verse, which all good boys and 
girls should get by heart : 

“ Early to bed and early to rise , 
Is the way to be healthy , wealthy , 
and wised 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


43 


When some days had gone by, 
some one gave Miss Madge a gift 
of a small dog, who was at all 
times full of fun, and would jump 
and skip round the room, so they 
gave him the name of Jumper. 
The work that Jumper had to do, 
was to keep the door, for they 
soon found that he would let no 
one in or out, if Miss Madge did 
not say that they might go. Billy 
the baa lamb was full of fun, and 
all the boys and girls were fond of 
him : so Miss Two Shoes made it 



44 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


a rule, that they who were the 
best in school-hours, should take 
Will home at night, to take their 
bag of books on his back, and 
bring it to the school the next day. 
When school was at an end, Miss 
Two Shoes would play with the 
boys and girls at games in which 
there was no harm, or else she told 
them tales to help them to learn 
what was right, or to make them 
laugh. It came to pass, one day, 
as she did so, that a man came in 
with the sad news that the father 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


45 


of Sally Jones was thrown from 
his horse, and that there was no 
hope that he would get well; in 
fact, the man who brought the 
news said that he was all but dead 
when he left him. All the school 
was in tears, and the man who 
brought the news, had to go back, 
but when he went, Miss Two 
Shoes, though not one of the boys 
or girls knew it, told Tom the 
dove to go home with the man, 
and bring a note to tell her how 
Mr. Jones did. As soon as the 



i 

46 GOODY TWO SHOES. 

man was gone, they saw that the 
dove was not to be found, and 
while they thought of him, their 
minds did not dwell so much on 
their grief for Mr. Jones and poor 
Sally, for they were all fond of 
Tom, and felt sad to lose him. 
She then told them a tale of Mr. 
Lovewell, the father of Miss Lucy, 
and how he lost all his wealth, 
and of all the bad luck he had. 
When the tale came to an end 
they heard a noise, like the flap 
of a bird’s wing, at the blind. 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


47 


“ Bow, wow, wow !” said J umper, 
and he tried to leap up and get 
out of the door ; the boys and 
girls could not think what made 
him do so ; but Miss Madge knew 
what it was. It did not take her 
long to raise up the sash, and, like 
Noah in the Ark, she drew in a 
dove ; it was Tom, with a note 
tied to his wing. As soon as she 
put him down on the floor, he 
went up to poor Sally ; Miss 
Madge took the note from him, 
and he cried, “ Coo, coo, coo !” as 


48 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


much as to say, “ There, read it.” 
Now this dove had come five 
times ten miles, in less than an 
hour, and brought the good news 
that there was no more fear that 
Mr. Jones would die. 

Miss Madge tried all the time 
to do good, and thought she could 
not do too much for those who 
had done the least thing to serve 
her. These kind thoughts made 
her try to do more and more for 
Mr. Grove, and the rest of those 
who had been so kind to her. 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


49 


Most of their lands were fields 
where grass grew, and the best of 
all their crops was their hay ; but, 
for some years, a great part ol 
their hay had been lost by rain. 
Now Miss Madge got a glass 
which would tell them when they 
could mow thdr grass, and have 
no fear that it would get wet ; 
they all came to her to ask her if 
it would rain soon, and by that 
means got in all their hay, and let 
/ none of it get wet ; while most of 
that on the farms near the next 



50 


G00DT TWO SHOES. 


town, was lost by the rain. This 
made a great noise in the land, 
and the folks who had farms 
some way off, were in such a rage, 
that at first they did not know 
what to do. Then they said she 
was a witch, and sent old Gaffer 
Goosecap (a man who had more 
love for talk than for his own 
work) to find out some proof that 
she was so. This man, who had 
not much sense, came by chance 
to her school, and saw her, as she 
went up and down the room, with 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


51 


Black Ralph on her left arm, the 
dove on her right, the lark on her 
head, and the lamb and the dog 
by her side ; the man thought this 
so strange that he cried out, “ A 
witch ! a witch ! a witch !” When 
she saw him she gave a laugh 
and said, “ A man who can guess 
all things ! a man who can guess 
all things!” and then he went off. 
But it did not end thus, for they 
sent for Miss Madge and took her 
to court, and there all her friends 
went too, to see what could be 



52 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


done for her. There was at court, a 
judge who had not seen much of 
the world, and knew still less of the 
law ; he did not know how to act, 
and though no one had said one 
word to prove that she was not a 
good girl, he thought he must ask 
her who she could bring to prove 
that she bore a good name. “ Who 
can you bring to prove that I am 
a bad girl, sir ?” said she. “ There 
are not a few folks who will 
come to help me, if need be, but I 
doubt if there is one man here 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


53 


who is so weak as to think that 
there is such a thing as a witch. 
If I am a witch, there is my 
charm [and she gave them a glass 
such as we use to tell when it 
will rain, and when it will be fine ;] 
“ it is with this,” said she, “ that I 
have taught those who live near 
me, when it will rain, and when it 
will not.” All who were there 
gave a loud laugh, and Sir Wil- 
liam Dove, who was on the bench, 
told those who found fault with 
her, that he did not know how they 


54 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


could be such fools as to think 
here was such a thing as a witch. 
“It is true,” said he, “that some 
good folks, who had done no harm, 
have been made to bear great pain, 
and some of them have lost their 
lives, just for this same thing that 
made you bring this poor girl here. 
It is a thing that must cause shame 
to our church, to our laws, to our 
land, and to our good sense, but I 
will tell you a true tale. There 
was once in this land far to the 
west of this town, a good girl, 


4 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


55 


fond of work ; but when she grew 
old and could not work much 
they said of her the same things 
which you have said of poor 
Madge now. When the hogs 
grew sick and died, or when the 
cows did not give much milk they 
all said it was this poor thing’s 
fault. If a horse got to be lame 
they said he had her in his head ; 
if it blew a gale, some one said 
they had seen Jane Giles ride on 
the stick of a broom through the 
air. These, and some more wild 


56 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


tales, which it would make you 
laugh to hear, ran in the heads of 
all the poor folks who had not the 
sense to know that such things 
could not be true. At the door 
of each house, you might have 
seen the shoe of a horse stuck up 
with a nail, with the heels up ; and 
they made use of all sorts of tricks 
to vex her. Such was their rage, 
and their wish to do her harm, 
that some of them went to beg 
Mr. Williams, the priest of that 
town, not to let her come to 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


57 


church ; and at last they said that 
she should not come. But he said 
that in this they should not have 
their way, and he gave poor old 
Jane a nook in one- of the aisles 
for her own, where she might 
kneel and pray to God in the best 
way she could. This made the 
rage of the men of that town 
grow 'more and more, and they 
would not let her have her share 
of the sum that was laid by for 
the poor of the town who were 
too old to work ; and they would 


58 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


have been glad to let her starve to 
death, if Mr. Williams, with his 
good, kind heart, had not come to 
her aid. But I will go on to the 
end of my tale, in which you will 
find that the true cause of such a 
thing is, want of wealth, old age, 
or want of sense ; and that no 
one can pass for a witch if they are 
not poor and old, or if they do not 
live in a place where the folks have 
not a grain of good sense. When 
some years had gone by, a brother 
of hers died in a great town, far 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


59 


from her home, who, though he 
would not part with a cent till his 
life was at an end, at his death had 
to leave her a great sum, for he 
could not take it with him, and he 
had no friends but Jane. This 
made a great change in Jane’s 
life ; she was no more Jane, but 
Miss Giles ; she took off her old 
gown and put on one that was 
clean and new. Those who had 
done her the most harm, paid their 
court to her, and the Judge, who 
had been more harsh to her than 


GO 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


all the rest, came to wish her joy ; 
and though some hogs died, and 
more than one horse went lame, 
and the wind at times blew a 
strong gale, yet no one now said 
it was the fault of Miss Giles ; 
and hence it is plain, as I said 
some time since, that one must be 
poor and old and live in a place 
where they have no sense, or she 
can not pass for a witch. Mr. 
Williams, who was fond of a joke 
and could make one at all times 
with great ease, said, more than 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


61 


once, that if there was a time 
when Jane ought to have the name 
of a witch, it was when her broth- 
er left her all his wealth, for that 
with the sum that he left her, she 
did more kind acts to the poor 
and the sick, than all the rich folks 
for ten miles round. Then Sir 
William said how sad it made 
him to see that the poor folks had 
no more sense than to think that 
there was such a thing as a witch. 
Then he spoke of Miss Madge; 
he told them how good she was, 



62 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


what good sense she had, and 
how well she spent her time. Sir 
Charles Jones by. this time thought 
so much of Miss Madge, that he 
told her he would give her a large 
sum if she would come and teach 
his child, and keep house for him. 
This she did not think best to do, 
but in a few months, when Sir 
Charles Jones grew ill and sent 
for her, she went ; and she was so 
wise in her care of the house, and 
so kind to him and his child, that 
he would not let her go back, but 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 63 

told her he would like to make 
her his wife. It made her glad to 
think that he was so kind to her, 
and thought so well of her as to 
wish her to be his wife, but she 
said that she did not think it right 
to be so, till he had first made his 
will, and in it left a great sum for 
his child. So to please her he did so. 
When this was done, and the day 
had come, all the folks came in 
crowds to see her wed, for all 
were fond of her. But just 
as the priest took the book in 


64 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


his hand, to read the words that 
would have made them one, a 
man in a rich dress ran through 
the church door, and cried out 
“ Stop, stop, stop !” This gave a 
great fright to all the folks that 
were there, and most of all to the 
bride that was to be, and Sir 
Charles Jones. The rich man 
who had come in, spoke first to 
Sir Charles and Miss Madge, and 
said that he would like to say a 
few words to them. He spoke 
so low that none but those who 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


65 


stood close by could hear what he 
said ; and the folks did not know 
what to think when they saw Sir 
Charles stand as still as death, 
and his bride cry and faint in his 
arms. But this, that they thought 
was grief, they saw change all at 
once to a flood of joy, for this 
young man, in his rich dress, was 
the same small boy whom you 
heard of some time since, when he 
took the end of his coat to wipe 
the tears from his sister’s face, the 

day he left her to go to sea; in 

6 * 


66 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


short, it was Tommy Two Shoes, 
the brother of Miss Madge, who 
was just come home from the sea, 
where he had made a great sum ; 
and as he heard, as soon as he 
came to land, that his sister was to 
be made a wife that day, he rode 
post, to give her the wealth that 
he thought was fit for such a bride ; 
and he told her he would give her 
a large sum, and then he should 
still have some to keep. She and 
Sir Charles Jones were wed in 
tears, but they were tears of joy. 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


67 


When Sir Jones had madfe her 
his wife, she had a house built 
in the town for a school house, 
and put a poor man and his 
wife there, who knew well how to 
read and write and do sums, and 
she thought that the poor would 
see how good they were, and 
would try to be like them ; here 
she had all the poor boys and girls 
taught to read and write, and she 
told the good dame who taught 
the school, more than all, to teach 
the girls how to sew, and the man, 



68 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


who had been a smith by trade, 
taught some of the lads his art, so 
that they could make some things 
that were of use, some of which 
they gave each year to Madge to 
show her how well they could 
work. They most of them grew 
to be good men, and had great 
cause to thank God who gave 
them such a friend as Goody Two 
Shoes ; by her care they had been 
taught to fear God, to love those 
whose homes were near theirs, 
and to be kind and not wish to 


GOODY TWO SHOTS. 


69 


hurt those who had done them 
wrong. They were taught, too, to 
speak the truth at all times and 
not to waste their time, she let 
the man and his wife use the 
school house, and yet pay no rent 
for it ; and that was not all ; she 
gave them a large sum at the end 
of each year to buy their food and 
clothes ; and she gave to the boys 
and girls of the school all the books 
they had need of. Madge Jones 
did not cease to think of her good 
friend Mr. Smith ; she sent him 


70 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


from where he was, to a church 
where they could pay him well, 
and to which she had the right to 
send whom she thought best, and 
she gave him, too, a large sum to 
buy beds and chairs and so forth 
for his new homeland to paint it 
from the roof to the ground. Sir 
Thomas Gripe, the same man who 
had been so harsh with Madge’s 
father, was so to Mr. Smith too. 
Madge went to law with him and 
took Mr. Smith’s part ; the cause 
was tried, and it was not hard to 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


71 


prove that Mr. Smith was in the 
right. Then, as it was made clear 
that Sir Thomas had done some 
things that it was a shame for a 
judge to do, they would no more 
let him be one. This was a sharp 
stroke to a man like him, and there 
came one still worse, for a niece of 
his who had a right to the farm of 
Mouldwell, laid claim to it, and 
got it, and by and by when she had 
a mind to sell it, she gave Madge 
the first chance to buy it. She 
bought the whole and made of it 



72 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


small farms, that the poor might no 
more have a rich and hard man 
to deal with.. This was a great 
grief to Sir Thomas, who, from 
this time, had no more good luck, 
and he soon got rid of all his 
wealth. But Madge said that all 
ought to be kind to his boys and 
girls ; “ for they,” said she, “ are by 
no means to blame for the bad acts 
of their father.” She took great 
care of the poor ; and to cause 
them to go to church, she said she 
would give a loaf at church to all 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


73 


who would like one. This brought 
some to church who, if it had not 
been for that, would not have come, 
and by and by they thought more 
of the things it was right for them 
to do, and then they came for what 
was worth more to them than 
bread. When two young folks of 
the town were wed, she gave them 
a bed and some chairs for their 
new home. As long as God gave 
her life, she was kind to the small 
boys and girls of the town, she let 
them come to her house, on the 



74 


GOODY TWO SHOES. 


first day of the week, and taught 
them what good boys and girls 
ought to know. Then she gave 
them some good food, and gave 
them such books as she thought 
would best teach them to be good, 
and at her de^th, she left them each 
a small sum in her will. There was 
one thing in her will that we must 
not fail to speak of ; it is that she 
left some land, that they were to 
plant each year with beans for all 
the poor who would come to get 
them, for the use of their wives and 



GOODY TWO SHOES. 


75 


boys and girls, but if a man took 
them to sell, he was to have no 
more. And the work on these lots 
was to be paid for by the rent of a 
farm which she left just for that. 
In short, the child of a poor man 
was to her as if it had been her 
own ; she did all she could to heal 
the sick, and she was a kind friend 
to all who were in need. All who 
knew her felt that they ouglrt to 
bless God for her life, and her 
death was a great grief to all who 
were in the land. 


TOM THUMB. 

In the days of good King Ar- 
thur, Merlin, a wise man for the 
times in which he was born, left his 
home for a short trip, and once, 
as the day was hot, and he felt as 
if he would like to rest, he thought 
he would stop and ask for some 
food. Just as he thought thus he 
came to the house of a good man, 
who did not mind work, and who 
was glad to get all his gains in a 
right way. The wife of this man, 
who was glad to be of use to one 

76 



TOM THUMB 






« 


TOM THUMB. 


77 


who came to her hot and in need 
of rest, lost no time, but brought 
him some milk in a bowl made of 
wood, and some brown bread on 
a plate that was made of wood 
too. Merlin could not fail to see, 
that all the things in the house 
were so neat and clean that 
no fault could be found with 
them, but though there was a 
place for all things, and each in 
its own place, yet all the while he 
was there, he did not see a smile 
on the man’s face, nor on that of 

7 * 



78 


TOM THUMB. 


his wife. So he made up his 
mind to ask them the cause of 
their grief, and they told him that 
they both felt sad all the time, for 
they had no child. The poor wife 
said, with tears in her eyes, that 
she thought no one in the world 
would be so gay as she, if she had 
a son, though he were but as big 
as the thumb of his father. Mer- 
lin gave a laugh, when he thought 
of a boy the size of a man’s thumb, 
and as soon as he got home, he 
sent for the Queen of the fairies, 



TOM THUMB. 


79 


(whom he knew quite well) and 
told her the wish of the good man 
and his wife to have a son, though 
he should not grow more than to 
the size of his father’s thumb. 
The, Queen of the fairies thought 
it was a fine plan, and said she 
would grant their wish at once. 
So the good man’s wife had a son, 
who in half an hour grew as tail 
as his father’s thumb. The 
Queen of the fairies came in 
through a small hole in the wall 
as the mother sat up in bed to 



80 


TOM THUMB. 


look at her child. The Queen 
gave the child a kiss and said the 
name of it should be Tom Thumb, 
then she gave a call to some more 
fairies, to come from Fairy Land 
to clothe her new pet : 


An oak leaf hat he had for his crown, 

His shirt it was by silk worms spun ; 

His coat was made of thistle down, 

And both his pants with points were done, 

His socks, of the rind of a pear, they tie 
With a lash which they took from his ma’s 
bright eye 

His shoes were made of a mouse’s skin, 

With soft fur out and soft fur in. 



TOM THUMB. 


81 


Tom grew till he was the size of 
his father’s thumb, which was not 
a large thumb, and then grew no 
more ; but as years went by, he 
grew quite sly and full of tricks, 
which his mother did not whip 
him for, as she ought to have done, 
so that when he could play with 
the boys for beans, and had lost 
all his own, his way was to creep 
in the boys’ bags, hide all he could 
in his clothes, and then come out 
to play. But one day, as he got 
out of a bag of beans, the boy 



82 TOM THUMB. 

whose bag it was, by chance saw 
him. “ Ah ha, my young Tom 
Thumb !” said the boy, “ have I 
caught you at your bad tricks at 
last! Now I will show you how bad 
it is to be a thief. Then he drew 
the strings tight around his neck, 
and shook the bag hard ; the 
beans hurt Tom’s arms and legs 
and thighs a great deal, which 
made him beg to be let out, and 
he said he would do no more such 
things. 

One day, it was but a few days 



TOM THUMB. 


83 


from the time that he was in the 
bean bag, his mother made a bat- 
ter pudding, and that he might 
watch her mix it, he got up on the 
edge of the bowl, but his foot by 
chance gave a slip and he fell up 
to his neck in the batter, and as 
his mother did not see him, she 
gave the pudding a stir which hid 
him quite, and put him in the pot 
to boil. It soon grew so hot that 
it made Tom kick and plunge ; 
and when his mother saw the 
pudding jump up and down in 



84 


TOM THUMB. 


such a strange way, she thought 
there was a witch in it ; and as a 
man came by just at that time, she 
in great haste gave him the pud- 
ding ; he put it in his bag, and off 
he went. As soon as Tom could 
get the batter out of his mouth, 
he gave a loud cry, which put the 
poor man in such a fright that he 
flung the pudding down on the 
ground, and ran off as fast as he 
could run. The pudding broke 
in small bits by the fall, Tom was 
set free and went home to his 



TOM THUMB. 


85 


mother, who gave him a kiss and 
put him to bed. Tom Thumb’s 
mother once took him with her, 
when she went to milk the cow, 
and as it blew hard that day, she 
tied him with a piece of thread to 
the stalk of a plant, that he might 
not be blown out of her reach. 
The cow thought his oak leaf hat 
was good for food, so she took 
him, and the plant he was tied to, 
up in her mouth, all at once. 
When the cow shut her teeth to 
chew the plant, Tom, in a fright at 



TOM THUMB. 


her great teeth, which he thought 
would crush him to bits, cried out, 
“ Mother, mother ?” as loud as he 
could bawl. “ Where are you, 
Tom, my dear Tom?” said his 
mother. “ Here, mother, here, in 
the red cow’s mouth.” When his 
mother heard this, she gave a cry, 
and wrung her hands, but the cow, 
who did not know what to make 
of such an odd noise in her throat, 
could not keep her mouth shut, 
and so she let him drop out. 
His mother put him in her lap 



TOM THUMB. 


87 


and ran home with him. Tom’s 
father made him a whip out of a 
rye straw, to drive the cows with, 
and one day when he was in the 
field he fell in a small ditch. A 
crow, who flew by, took him up 
with a grain of corn, and flew with 
him to a strong fort, where a great 
man ten feet high had his home. 
It was close to the sea. There 
the crow left him, and old G'rumbo, 
the tall man, who soon came to 
walk on the top of his fort, took 
Tom in his mouth like a pill, 



TOM THUMB. 


clothes and all. But Tom ran 
round in his mouth, which did not 
feel good to him, so he took him 
out of his mouth and threw him 
in the sea. Then, the first thing . 
he knew, he was down the throat 
of a great fish. This fish was 
soon caught and sent as a gift to 
King Arthur. When they went 
to eat it, at the first stroke of the 
knife out came Tom Thumb, to 
the great joy of all who were there. 
The King made him his dwarf ; 
he was the pet of the whole court, 



TOM THUMB. 


89 


and by his gay pranks, he made 
the Queen and knights of the 
court laugh a great deal. The 
King, when he rode on a horse, 
would now and then take Tom in 
his hand, and if a storm of rain 
came on, he hid in the King’s vest, 
and there he slept till the rain was 
all gone. The King would now 
and then ask Tom who his father 
and mother were ; when Tom told 
him that they were poor folks, the 
King led him to the place where 
he kept his gold and so forth, and 


8 * 


90 TOM THUMB. 

told him he should go to see his 
friends and take with him as much 
gold as he could lift. Tom got a 
small purse, and put in it a piece 
of gold worth just six cents : he 
found it quite hard to get such a 
weight on his back, and when he 
had been two days and two nights 
on the road, he got safe to the 
house of his father. His mother 
met him at the door, half dead 
with his long walk, for in two 
days and two nights he had gone 
quite half a mile with a huge piece 



TOM THUMB. 


91 


of gold as big as the head of a pin 
on his back. His father and mo- 
ther were glad to see him, and still 
more glad when they found he had 
brought such a large bag of gold 
with him. They put him in the 
shell of a nut, by the side of the 
fire, and fed him for three days on 
a beech nut, which made him sick, 
for a whole nut ought to last him 
a month. Tom got well, but 
could not walk back to court, 
for there had been a hard rain ; so 
his mother took him in her hand 



92 


TOM THUMB . 


and with one puff blew him to 
King Arthur’s court ; at that 
time they had balls and tilts and 
all such things at the court. Tom 
said and did all he could to make 
the Queen and knights laugh, and 
was so full of fun, and ran round 
so much, that it made him ill, and 
they thought he could not get 
well. Just then the Queen of the 
fairies came 1 in a car, drawn by 
mice who knew how to fly ; she 
took Tom by her side, drove 
through the air, and did not stop 



TOM THUMB. 


93 


till she got to her own home. 
There she soon made Tom well, 
and then let him see all the gay 
sports of Fairy Land. When 
she thought it was time for him 
to go back, she told the wind to 
blow, and put Tom where he 
could feel the full force of it. It 
blew him straight to the court o! 
King Arthur. But just as Tom, 
still high in the air, came in the 
yard of the King’s house, the cook, 
by chance, came that way, with the 
King’s great bowl of oat meal. 



I 


94 TOM THUMB. 

(King Arthur was fond of oat 
meal,) and poor Tom Thumb fell 
right in the midst of it, and the 
great splash he made, threw the 
hot oat meal in the cook’s eyes. 
Down went the bowl. “ Oh, 
dear, oh dear ! ” cried T om. “ Oh, 
oh, oh !” said the cook, with' a 
great roar, and the nice oat meal 
ran down the great drain. The 
cook was a great, cross man with 
a red face, and he swore to the 
King, that Tom meant to do it; 
so they took him and tried him, 



TOM THUMB. 95 

and said he should have his head 
cut off. When Tom heard this, 
it did not please him at all, for he 
thought it hard that he should lose 
his life for so small a crime. By 
chance there stood there a man 
who kept a mill, and who had not 
the good sense to keep his mouth 
shut, so Tom gave a good spring, 
and in a trice found that he was 
down the man’s throat ; but no one 
had seen him jump, and the man 
down whose throat he had sprung, 
knew no more than the rest that 



96 


TOM THUMB . 


he was there. As Tom was lost, 
and they could not cut off the 
head of a man whom they could 
not find, the court broke up, and 
off went the man who had Tom 
in his mouth, to his mill. But 
Tom did not leave him long at 
rest ; he gave a roll on this side 
and a roll on that, and fell here 
and there, till the man thought a 
witch must have tried to play 
some prank with him, and he sent 
for a leech to cure him. When 
the leech came, Tom took it in his 



TOM THUMB. 


97 


head to dance and sing, which put 
the leech in just as great a fright as 
the man of the mill, so he sent in 
great haste for fi\*e more men of his 
own trade, and five times five wise 
men, to see if they knew what was 
to be done in so strange a case. 
While all these men set their heads 
to work to think, and set their 
tongues to work to talk, the man 
who had the mill, (for it took 
them a long time to make up their 
minds what to say, by chance gave 
a great yawn, and Tom, who was 



98 


TOM THUMB , 


quite glad of a chance to get out, 
gave a jump, and down he came 
on his feet, on the floor, in the 
midst of them all.. The wise men 
all gave a laugh, but the man of 
the mill (who by the by was not a 
wise man) did not laugh. It did 
not please him to think that 
so small a thing as Tom Thumb 
had made him make such a fuss, 
so he flew in a great rage, caught 
hold of poor Tom, and threw him 
in the deep stream on which the 
mill stood. A fine large trout 



TOM THUMB. 99 

swam by just then, and took him 
up in his mouth in less time than 
it takes a dog to wag his tail. 
The trout was soon caught, and 
sold for a great sum to a man who 
had come to the town to buy some 
fish for his Lord to eat. The 
Lord thought it was too fine a 
fish for him to keep, so he gave 
it to the King, who was quite 
fond of fine trout. The King 
gave it his cook and told him to 
cook it at once. When the cook 
cut the trout in two bits, to broil 



100 


TOM THUMB. 


it, he found poor Tom, and ran 
with him straight to the King. 
But the King had some things of 
great weight to talk of with his 
knights, so he told the cook not to 
bring Tom Thumb to' him that 
day, but to wait some days. The 
cook made up his mind that he 
would keep him safe this time ; 
and as he had some fear that he 
would get off, as he had done the 
last time he took him to the King, 
he put him in a mouse-trap, and 
left him there to play as best he 



TOM THUMB. IQ\ 

could, and peep through the wires. 
Tom had to stay there a whole 
week ; then the King sent for him. 
He told him not to fear that he 
would kill him for what he had 
done to the oat meal, for he would 
think of it no more. He told 
them to make him a new suit of 
clothes, and he made him a knight. 

His shirt was made of a white moth’s wings, 
His boots were made of grey doves’ skins, 
His pants were made of a young rat’s hide, 
A pin for a sword hung by his side, 

A mouse for a horse he used to ride, 

9 * 



102 


TOM THUMB. 


With this fine dress, and on 
this fine horse, he went to hunt 
with the King and his knights, 
who all gave a loud laugh when 
they saw Tom and his fine steed, 
who knew how to prance as well 
as their steeds did. As they rode 
by a farm-house one day, a cat 
gave a spring from a hole in the 
wall near the door ; she took up 
in her mouth and claws the mouse 
and poor Tom, and lost no time, 
but set to work to eat the mouse, 
but Tom, bold as could be, drew 



TOM THUMB. 


103 


his sword and stuck it in the cat, 
who was then quite glad to let 
him fall. The king and his lords 
and knights saw that Tom would 
fall if some of them did not help 
him, and if he fell, he might break 
his leg, or his arm, or his back, 
and, as they were all fond of him, 
this would have made them quite 
sad, so they all went to his aid, 
and one of the lords caught him 
in his hat. But poor Tom had a 
long scratch on his face, and three 
or four on his hands, and some 


104 


TOM THUMB. 


more too, though his clothes had 
done a good deal to save him. But 
they, too, were much torn by the 
claws of the cat In this sad state 
they took him home, where a bed 
of down was made for him, just as 
big a one as you would need for a 
small doll less than an eighth of a 
yard long. The frame and posts 
of the bed were made from the 
tooth of some great beast ; some 
men who knew how to carve such 
things, had cut it with great care ; 
it was as white as snow. The 



TOM THUMB. 


105 


Queen of the fairies came and 
took him back to Fairy Land, 
where she kept him for some 
years ; then she gave him a dress 
of bright green, and, with a puff of 
her breath, sent him once more 
through the air to. the earth. 
King Arthur was dead at that 
time ; and Th unstone was King 
in his stead. The folks came far 
and near to look at him ; and the 
King to whose court they took 
him, told him that he should be 
glad to know who he was, whence 


106 


TOM THUMB. 


he came, and in what place he 
made his home. Tom said 

My name is Tom Thumb ; 

From the Fairies I come ; 

When King Arthur shone, 

This court was my home. 

[ made him laugh with all his might, 

And by him I was made a knight. 

I think these folks must be deaf and dumb 
If they have not heard of Sir Thomas Thumb. 

The King was quite struck with 
this speech ; in fact, he thought so 
much of it, that he told them to 
make a small chair, that Tom 
might sit close by his throne, and 



TOM THUMB. 


107 


he made them build, too, a house 
of gold, a span high, for Tom 
Thumb to live in. He gave him, 
too, a coach drawn by six small 
mice. This did not please the 
Queen, for the King did not give 
her a new coach, when he gave 
Tom one ; so she made up her 
mind that she would put an end 
to Tom’s joy, and went to the 
King and told him that Tom had 
been rude to her. This was not 
true, for Tom was rude to no one ; 
but the Queen made the King 



108 TOM THUMB. 

think it was true, and he sent for 
Tom in a rage. Tom, to get out of 
the way of his wrath, crept in a snail 
shell that had no snail in it, for 
the snail had long been dead. 
There he lay until he thought he 
should starve for the want of food, 
when, as he gave a peep out of the 
shell he saw a fine, large moth 
which had flown down and stood 
on the ground close to him. He 
now thought he might dare to come 
out, so he got up on the moth’s 
back, and the moth took wing 



TOM THUMB. 


109 


and flew up in the air with Tom on 

his back. Off he flew, from field 

to field, from tree to tree, till at 

last he flew back to the King’s 

court. The King and Queen, 

the lords, the knights, all strove to 

catch the moth, but could not. 

At length poor Tom, who had 

no rein to guide his steed, and did 

not know what to hold on to, 

could not keep his seat, but as the 

moth gave a quick start in a way 

he did not think it would go, he 

fell. He fell in a white jar which 
10 


110 


TOM THUMB. 


the late rain had made quite full, 
and then he thought he should 
drown, but just in time they took 
him out. The Queen said that she 
would not rest in peace till he had 
his head cut off; and while they 
went to get the axe to cut his head 
off, they put him in a mouse-trap 
to keep him safe. But the cat came 
in, and when she saw what was in 
the trap move, she thought it must 
be a mouse ; so she gave the trap 
two or three pats with her paw, 
which broke it, and then Tom was 


TOM THUMB. 


Ill 


free. But sad to say, in a few 
hours from that time, a spider, who 
took him for a fly, made at him. 
Tom drew his sword and fought 
like a brave man, but the breath 
of the spider made him faint ; he 
fell and was slain : 

He fell dead on the ground where late he had 
stood, 

And the spider drank up the last drop of his 
blood. 

King Thunstone put on black, 
and so did his whole court, for 
Tom Thumb. They made him 



112 


TOM THUMB. 


a grave at the foot of a bush where 
the first rose of Spring came out 
each year ; and they put a pure, 
white stone at the head of his 
grave, on which you might read 
these lines. 

Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight, 
Whose death was from a spider’s bite. 

He was well known in Arthur’s court ; 

His jokes were good and made great sport ; 
And when he to the hunt did go 
’Twas to a mouse that he cried whoa ! 

Hi^ days in joy and mirth were spent, 

His death to grief and woe gave vent. 

Wipe, wipe your eyes and shake your head 
And cry, Our dear Tom Thumb is dead ! 


ALADDIN, 

OR, 

TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


In a town far to the East, there 
once dwelt a man whose name 
was Mustapha, who was so poor 
that he found it hard to earn 
bread to eat and to give to his wife 
and his son Aladdin. When the 
boy grew big, so that he could 



8 


ALADDIN; OR, 


work, his pa took him to his shop 
and tried to teach him his trade, 
but all he could do was in vain, for 
Aladdin would not work. The 
old man’s grief for his bad ways 
was so great that it made him ill, 
and he soon died; and the ma, 
when she found that her son 
would not work, shut up the shop 
and tried to earn bread for them 
both by her own work. Aladdin 
did all that was bad, till, one day, 
as he was at play in the street, a 
man who came that way, stood 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


9 


still to look at him. This man 
was a wise man. He knew who 
Aladdin was, and how bad he 
was. He went up to him and 
said, “ Child, was not your father’s 
name Mustapha, and did he not 
make clothes T 

“Yes, sir,” said Aladdin, “but 
he has been dead some time.” 

The wise man threw his arms 
round Aladdin’s neck, and said, 
. “I am your uncle; I have been 
twelve years from home, and 
now. when I have come back to 


10 


ALADDIN; OB, 


see my brother, you tell me he is 
dead.” 

The wise man bade Aladdin 
kiss him, and gave him a ring-, 
which he told the youth was worth 
much. He then led Aladdin a 
great way out of the town till they 
came to a spot with a hill on 
each side. He then set to work 
to pick up some dry sticks, and 
made a fire, and put on it some 
stuff that had a sweet smell, then 
he stood with his face to the sun 
and said some strange words, A1 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP . 


11 


addin did not know what they 
meant. Then the earth shook, 
and the wind blew the sand from 
the spot, and the boy saw a stone 
with a ring in it, by which he 
could raise it up. 

The wise man said, “ Take 
hold of this ring, and lift up the 
stone, and you will find a thing of 
great worth, which shall be yours. 
Aladdin did as he was told, and 
took both his hands to raise the 
stone with great care. When he 
had done so he saw a cave. 



12 


ALADDIN; OB, 


The wise man bade him go down 
and at the foot of the steps he would 
find a door which led to three 
great halls ; at the end of these was 
a yard, in which grew trees with 
sweet fruit on them. “ At the 
end of that yard,” said he, “you 
will see a wall, and in it a niche, 
and in the niche there is a lamp. 
Take down the lamp, put out the 
light, throw out the wick, pour 
out the oil, and bring the lamp to 
me.” Aladdin sprang down the 
steps of the cave, and found the 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


IS 


halls. He went through them, and 
then went on to the end of the 
yard and took down the lamp. 
As he went back he thought he 
would stop to look at the fine 
fruits which hung on the trees. 
Some bore fruit quite white, some 
red, some green, and some blue. 
Though he thought they were 
but glass, he was so struck 
with them that he took all he 
could hold, and then went back 
to the door of the cave. When he 
got there he said to the wise man : 



14 


ALADDIN; OR, 


“Uncle, give me your hand to 
help me up.” 

“Give me the lamp first,” said 
the wise man. 

“I can not, till I am up,” said 
Aladdin. 

The wise man would not help 
Aladdin to get out till he gave 
him the lamp ; and Aladdin 
would not give it him till he was 
out of the cave. The wise man 
grew so wild with rage that he 
threw some stuff that had a bad 
smell on the fire, and said a few 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


15 


words ; then the stone went back 
to its place, and thus Aladdin 
(who in vain cried out that he 
would give up the lamp) was shut 
up. The wise man, by his art, 
had found out that if he could get 
a lamp that was hid -in some part 
of the world, it would make him 
as great as a prince. Then he 
found out that this lamp was in a 
cave in the land where Aladdin 
dwelt, in a vale, with a hill on 
each side of it. So he went to a 
town near to the cave where the 



16 


ALADDIN; OB, 


lamp was, and as he knew he 
must take it from the hands of 
some one else, he got Aladdin to 
go with him. 

When Aladdin had the lamp, 
the wise man was in such haste to 
get it, or was in such fear that the 
boy would tell that he had it, that 
he let it vex him, and so lost what 
he came there to get. He did not 
think of the ring which Aladdin 
had, and which he had told the 
youth would keep him at all times 
from harm, but went off in a huff, 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. > 17 

with no ring and no lamp. When 
Aladdin found that he was shut 
up in this cave, he sat down on 
the steps and staid there two 
days ; on the third day, he was so 
sad to think he could not get out 
of the cave, and so sick for want 
of food, that he put his hands on 
his head with a groan. 

As he put up his hands he by 
chance gave a rub to his ring, and 
all at once a man of great height 
stood in front of him. 

“ What wouldst thou have with 



18 


ALADDIN; OB, 


me ?” said this great, tall man ; “ I 
will mind thee as thy slave, whilst 
thou hast that ring on thy hand.” 

Aladdin said, “ I know not who 
thou art ; but take me from this 
place, if thou canst.” Then the 
earth shook once more, and he 
was at the place where the wise 
man had built the fire. Aladdin 
ran home as fast as he could, and 
told his ma all he had seen and 
done. She was in a great rage at 
the vile man, and it made her sad to 
think that she had no food to give 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


19 


her son, who had had none for 
three days. Aladdin then made 
haste to show her the lamp, and 
said, “Ma, I will take this lamp 
and sell it, to buy us food, but I 
think if I were to clean it first, I 
could get more for it.” So he sat 
down to wash it and rub it with 
sand. Then there came forth a 
great, tall man and said, “What 
wouldst thou have ? I will mind 
thee as thy slave, and as the slave 
of all who may have the lamp 
which is now in thy hand.” 



20 


ALADDIN; OB, 


Aladdin said, “Bring me food.” 
Then the tall man went off, bul 
soon came back with some nice 
food on twelve plates made of 
gold. He laid them down and 
was no more seen. Aladdin and 
his ma sat down and ate; they 
had food to last till the next night, 
when Aladdin took the plates and 
sold them, and the price that was 
paid for them bought them food 
for years. One day Aladdin saw 
a princess as she went to the baths. 
He was so struck with her fair 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


21 


face that he ran home to ask his 
ma to go to the Sultan and ask if 
he might make her his wife. 

His ma thought he must be 
mad, and tried to make him give 
up his wish, but he said he could 
not live if he did not have the 
princess. He then brought his 
ma the fruit which he had got in 
the cave, and told her to take it as 
a gift to the Sultan, for it was 
fit for any king. He had found 
out that the fruits he thought 
were glass, were gems of great 


22 ALADDIN; OR, 

worth. So his ma went to where 
the Sultan dwelt, and gave him the 
gems in a vase. He took the 
gift, and when he had heard what 
she had to ask, he said, “I can 
not let my child be the wife of a 
man till he sends me some great 
gift; yet, if at the end of three 
months from this day your son 
will send me not one vase, but 
four times ten of them, just like 
this one, full of such gems, each one 
borne by a black slave, and each of 
them led by a white slave in fine 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


23 


clothes, I will let him take my child 
for his wife. The Sultan did not 
wish his child to be the wife of 
one whom he did not know; but 
he thought Aladdin could not get 
the things he spoke of, so it would 
be the same as to say no, and yet 
would not be rude to the young 
man. Aladdin’s ma went home 
and told him what he would have 
to do to make the Sultan grant 
his wish. 

His joy knew no bounds when 
he found he should soon have the 



24 


ALADDIN; OR, 


princess. As soon as his ma left 
him, he took the lamp and gave it 
a rub ; then the same tall man 
came to ask him what he would 
have. Aladdin told him what 
the Sultan had said, and that the 
things must be had at the right 
time. The tall man said it should 
be done. At the end of three 
months the tall man brought the 
black slaves, each one with a vase 
full of gems, and with them were 
the white slaves too. Aladdin’s 
ma put on a fine dress and went 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


25 


with them to where the Sultan 
dwelt. When the Sultan saw 
the long line of black and white 
slaves, and that each of the black 
ones had a vase full of rich and 
rare gems, and that all their 
clothes were like the clothes of 
kings, he did not think he need 
ask if in all things Aladdin was 
fit to be the son of a king. The 
sight of such great wealth, and 
Aladdin’s zeal to get the things 
he had told him he must have, 
made the Sultan sure that he was 

3 



26 


ALADDIN; 01 i, 


fit to be his son, so he said to the 
young man’s ma, “ Go, tell thy 
son that I want to see him, and 
that he may take my child to be 
his wife.” When Aladdin s ma 
was gone, the Sultan got up from 
his throne and told them to take 
the gems to the room of his child. 
The ma of Aladdin soon got back 
to her son. “You are to have 
what you wish,” said she to him ; 
“ the Sultan waits to see you and 
make you his son.” Aladdin, in 
great joy at this news, went to 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


27 


his room to rub the lamp. The 
tall man came. “ I wish to bathe,” 
said Aladdin, “then, give me a 
grand robe such as no king in all 
the world has yet worn.” The tall 
man then took him to a bath 
where he felt some one rub and 
wash him in a bath that had a 
sweet smell, yet he saw no one. 
His skin grew clear and soft, 
he put on a rich robe, and the 
man then took him back to his 
room, where he did not fail to ask 
Aladdin what else he could do 



28 


ALADDIN; OR, 


for him. “ Bring me a horse,” 
said Aladdin, “ and give me 
slaves to go with me, and let each 
one wear a rich robe. Give my 
ma, too, six slaves to wait on her, 
each one with a rich dress ; but 
more than all, bring me ten bags 
with more bits of gold in them 
than a man could count in a day. 
The tall man went off and came 
back with a horse, four times ten 
slaves, ten bags, and six more 
slaves, each one of whom had 
a rich robe for Aladdin’s ma. 


THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 29 

Aladdin gave six of the bags to the 
slaves, that they might give the 
gold to the crowd as they went to 
the Sultan’s home. He then sent 
one of the slaves to ask when he 
might go to the Sultan and fall at 
his feet. The slave brought him 
word that the Sultan would see 
him at once. When he came to 
the gate of the grand house where 
the Sultan dwelt, all the great 
men of the court went with him 
to the hall of state ; there one of 
them gave him his hand to help 



30 


ALADDIN; OR, 


him off his horse, and led him to 
the Sultan’s throne. The Sultan 
did not know what to think when 
he saw how rich Aladdin’s dress 
was, but he rose from his throne, 
and gave him a kiss. The next 
thing he did was to wave his hand, 
and the air was full of the sound of 
lutes and harps and flutes and all 
things that make sweet sounds. 
He then led Aladdin to a large 
room where food was laid for a 
great feast. Then the Sultan sent 
for the chief man of law of the 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


31 


place and told him to see that all 
things were right to make the 
princess the wife of Aladdin. 
The Sultan then said to Aladdin, 
“ Do you wish my child to be your 
wife this day ?” To which he said, 
“ Sir, I beg your leave to put it off 
till I have built a house fit for the 
princess, and I beg you too, to grant 
me a spot of ground near your 
own house, and I will take care to 
have it built as fast as can be.” 
“ Son,” said the Sultan, “ take what 
ground you like.” Then he once 



32 


ALADDIN; OR, 


more gave a kiss to Aladdin, who 
took leave of him and went home. 
He went to his room, took his 
lamp, gave it a rub, and the tall 
man came. “ Build me a house,” 
said Aladdin, “ near the Sultan’s, 
fit for my spouse the princess ; but 
I will not have stone ; let the walls 
be made of gold and jet, laid in 
rows, and in the cracks let there be 
pearls and rich stones. The house 
must have a large yard full of 
sweet shrubs and plants that bear 
nice fruits. But most of all, let 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


33 


there be a great deal of gold coin. 
And there must be barns full of 
hay and corn, and in each barn 
twelve stalls, and in each stall a 
fine horse, and grooms to take care 
of them.” By the dawn of the next 
day the tall man came once more 
to Aladdin, and said, “Sir, your 
house is built, come and see if it is 
what you wish.” He had not 
time to say more than that he 
would go, when the tall man took 
him there. He found the house 
still more grand than he thought it 



34 


ALADDIN; OR, 


would be. Then the tall man led 
him to a small room which was full 
of bags of gold up to the roof. 
Then the tall man took Aladdin 
hofne. It was not yet the hour 
when he might go through the 
gates of the Sultan’s house. While 
the Sultan was still in bed, some 
of his men came to the gates, and 
from there they saw Aladdin’s 
house ; they went straight to the 
Sultan and told him of it. “ You 
know,” said the Sultan, “ that it 
is Aladdin’s house, on the ground 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


35 


which I gave him. When Alad- 
din had done with the 'tall man 
he told his ma it was time for her 
to go to the Sultan’s house with 
her slaves, and tell the Sultan she 
came to go with the princess, 
when the sun had set, to the house 
of her son. Then Aladdin left 
his old home, but he took care to 
have with him his lamp, by the aid 
of which he had grown so great. 
At the house of the Sultan they 
met Aladdin’s ma with great joy, 
and took her to the room of the 


36 


ALADDIN; OR, 


sweet princess. The princess 
came forth to meet her with much 
love, and while they put on her 
the gems which Aladdin had sent, 
a grand feast was laid for t|jem. 
At night the princess took leave 
of the Sultan and went to Alad- 
din’s house. His ma went 'with 
her, and then came a long train of 
slaves in rich robes. In front 
were bands that did not cease to 
play gay tunes till they came to 
Aladdin’s house, and next came 
the black slaves. A long line of 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


37 


the Sultan’s young men held lights 
on each side ; these, with the bright 
lights of the Sultan’s house, and 
Aladdin’s, made it like day. When 
the princess came to the new house 
Aladdin, full of joy, went with 
haste to meet her. He to*,k her 
by the hand and led her to a room 
where a grand feast was set out. 
Each dish was of gold, and they 
had in them nice food of all kinds. 
The cups and plates were all of 
gold, with such good work on them 
that it was worth more than the 



38 


ALADDIN; OR, 


gold they were made of. Alad- 
din led the princess and his ma, 
each to her place in this grand 
room, and as soon as they sat 
down there was a fine band to 
play sweet tunes while they ate. 
When the feast had come to an 
end, Aladdin gave his hand to the 
princess to dance with her, and 
there were no more feasts that 
night. The next day Aladdin 
got on a horse, and with a troop 
of slaves with him, went to the 
Sultan’s house. The Sultan met 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


39 


him with great love, and gave him 
a seat by his dirone. Aladdin 
did not stay in his own house and 
the Sultan’s, but rode through the 
town and went to all the mosques. 
He went, too, to see all the great 
men of the court, and now, rich 
and poor, all whom he knew, 
grew fond of him. He might 
have gone on thus a long time 
had it not been for the wise man, 
who, when he heard of _ Alad- 
din’s good luck, said, “ This boy 
has found out the use of the 



10 


ALADDIN ; OR, 


lamp, but I will not let him keep 
it long. Next day he set out, and 
soon came to the town in the 
East where Aladdin dwelt. The 
first thing he had to learn was 
where Aladdin kept the lamp. 
He soon found out by his art that 
it was in Aladdin’s house, and to 
know this gave him great joy. 
He found out, too, that Aladdin 
had gone off to hunt, and would not 
come home for eight days. The 
wise man then went to a man who 
made lamps, and bought twelve, 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 41 

which he put in a pack on his 
back. He went thus to Alad- 
din’s house, and when he came 
near it he cried, “ Who will 
change old lamps for new ones ?” 
This strange cry brought a crowd 
of men and boys, who thought he 
must be mad to £ive new lamps 
for old ones; yet still he did not 
cease to cry, “ Who will change 
old lamps for new ones?” This 
he said so oft near Aladdin’s 
house/ that his wife sent one of 
her slaves to know what the man 

4 * 



42 


ALADDIN; OB, 


cried. “ Ma’am,” said the slave, 
“ it makes me laugh to see a fool 
with a pack full of new lamps on 
his back, which he wants to 
change for old ones.” Then a 
girl who stood by, said, “ I 
know not if the princess has seen 
it, but there is an old lamp up 
stairs ; if the princess li^es she may 
try if this man will give a new 
one for it.” This was Aladdin’s 
amp, which he had left up stairs 
when he went off to hunt, but 
the princess had not seen it, nor 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


43 


had those who were with her. 
Aladdin, as a rule, took the lamp 
with him when he went to hunt ; 
but this time he left it at home. 
The princess, who knew not how 
much the lamp was worth, bade 
one of the slaves take it and 
change it. The slave went and 
gave a loud call to the wise man, 
held up the old lamp, and said, 
“ Will you give me a new one for 
this ? The wise man knew this 
was the lamp he came to get, so 
he took it from the slave, and 


44 


ALADDIN; OR, 


bade him take that which he 
thought the best ; the slave chose 
one and took it to the princess. 
As soon as the wise man got out 
of the gate of the town, he stood 
still, and spent the rest of the day, 
till it was night, in a wood near 
by, when he took the lamp and 
gave it a rub. The tall man 
came. “ I bid thee take me,” 
said the wise man, “ with the 
house thou has built for Aladdin, 
and all who live in it, to a place 
a great way off. Then the tall 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


45 


man took him and the house of 
Aladdin, and all in it, to a place 
a great way off, which the wise 
man told him of. Next day, 
when the Sultan went, as was his 
wont, to his door to look at Alad- 
din’s house, he saw but a space 
of ground, with no house on it. 
This made him so wild with rage 
that he knew not what to do. He 
cried, “Where is that man, that 
I may have his head cut off ; 
send out a troop of men to bring 
him to me in chains.” The troop 



46 


ALADDIN; OR, 


went as they were bid, and, twelve 
miles from the town, they met 
Aladdin on his way home ; they 
told him that the Sultan had sent 
them to fetch him home. Aladdin 
had not the least fear, and went 
on his way, but when they were 
half a league from the town the 
chief of the troop said, “ Prince 
Aladdin, the Sultan bade me 
bring you to him in chains.” So 
they put chains on both his arms, 
and in this way he had to walk to 
the town. When the troop came 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 47 


near the town, all who saw Alad- 
din thus led in chains had no 
doubt that his head would be cut 
off, and as they all were fond of 
him, they took swords, and spears, 
and all kinds of arms, and those 
who had none took up stones and 
went with the troop and in this 
way they came to the Sultan’s 
house. 

They took Aladdin to the Sul- 
tan, who, as soon as he saw him, 
said that his head should be 
cut off So the man who was to 



48 ALADDIN; OR, 

cut his head off, took off the chains 
and made him kneel down; then he 
drew his sword and stood still till 
the Sultan should give the sign 
for him to cut off Aladdin’s head. 
Just then a vast crowd of men 
from the town burst through the 
gate that led to the Sultan’s 
house. When the Sultan saw the 
men he told them that Aladdin 
should not be slain. When 
Aladdin found that he was free, he 
went to the Sultan and said to 
him, “ I beg you to let me know 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


49 


my crime.” “Thy crime!” said the 
Sultan. “ Come with me.” The 
Sultan then took him to his 
room. When he came to the 
door he said to him, “You ought 
to know where your house stood : 
look and tell me where it is now.” 
“ I beg you,” said Aladdin, “ to give 
me twelve days to try to find out.” 
“ I give you twelve days, ’’said the 
Sultan. For three days Aladdin 
did naught but walk from place 
to place till he could walk no more. 
At the close of the third day he 



50 


ALADDIN; OR, 


came to the bank of a stream, and 
as he had lost all hope, he though 
he would jump in and put an end 
to his life. He thought it right to 
pray first, and went to the stream to 
wash his hands and face, for it was 
the law of the land that a man 
should wash his face and hands first, 
and then pray. The bank of the 
stream was steep and moist, and as 
he trod on it he slid down by a 
small rock. As he fell down the 
bank a stone hurt his hand and 
gave his ring a hard rub. At once 



TEE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


51 


the same tall man came forth, whom 
he had seen in the cave. Aladdin 
said, “ 1 bid thee take me to the 
place where my house stands, and 
set me down where the princess 
can see me if she looks out.” The 
tall man took him to a large plain, 
on which his house stood, and set 
him down on a bank close to the 
house where the princess could 
see him when she rose, and there 
left him. The next day one of the 
girls saw Aladdin, and told the 
princess, who could not think that 



52 


ALADDIN; OR, 


she spoke the truth, yet she ran to 
look out, and saw Aladdin. She 
said to him, “ I will send a slave to 
let you through one of the gates.” 
When Aladdin got in he went to 
the princess’s room and gave her a 
kiss, and then he said to her, “ Do 
-you know where an old lamp is, 
which I left at home when I went 
to hunt?” The princess told him 
that she had been such a goose as 
to change it for a new one, and 
that the next day she found she 
was in a land she did not know. 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP . 


53 


The man who gave a new lamp for 
the old one took her there by his 
art. “ Princess,” said Aladdin, “ I 
know now who this man is ; he is 
the worst of all men ; but this is 
not the time or place to tell you 
all the wrong he has done. Can 
you tell me what he has done with - 
the lamp, and where he has put it ?” 

“ He takes it at all times with him ; 
this I know, for once he took it 
out of his robe and let me see it.” 

“ Princess,” said Aladdin, “tell me, 

I pray you, how this bad man 



64 


ALADDIN; OR, 


treats you.” “ Since I have been 
here,” said the princess, “he has 
come once a day to se£ me, and I 
am sure that he would come more 
than once, if he saw that it gave 
me joy to see him. He tries in 
vain to make me love him more 
than you, and wants to make me 
his wife. He tells me not to hope 
to see you, that you are dead, that 
the Sultan had your head cut off. 
He says too that you are a wretch ; 
that you owe your good luck to 
him, and all such things. He 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


55 


finds that I have no love for him, 
and he sees my grief and tears, and 
he goes off sad. I have no doubt 
he means to wait some time, to see 
if I cease to grieve for you, and if I 
do not, he will make me his wife 
by force. But now you have come, 
my fears are all gone.” “I am 
glad,” said Aladdin, “that my 
wife feels no fear, and I think I 
know how to save you from that 
bad man. I shall come back at 
noon, and will then tell you what I 
mean to do, and what you must 



56 


ALADDIN; OR, 


do to help me. But I must first 
tell you that I shall change my 
dress, and I beg of you to tell your 
slaves not to let me wait long at 
the gate but to let me in at the 
first knock. The princess said 
she would take care that all .this 
should be done. When Aladdin 
went out of the house, he met a 
man in the road, and said to him, 
“ My good man, will you change 
clothes with me ?” the man said he 
would. So they went to the back 
of a hedge and the man took 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 57 

Aladdin’s clothes, and Aladdin 
took his. Then Aladdin came tc 
the town and went to that part of 
it where the shops were. There he 
found a man who sold drugs, and 
he bought half a drachm of a drug 
that he told him the name of. 
Aladdin went back to the house, 
and when he saw the princess he 
told her to ask the wise man to 
sup with her. “Then,” said he, 
“put this drug in one of the cups 
of wine, charge the slave to bring 
that cup to you, and then change 



68 


ALADDIN; OR, 


cups with him ; as soon as he has 
drank it, he will fall dead. When 
it was time to sup, the wise man 
came, and they sat down side by 
side. The princess gave him part 
of all the good things there were, 
and said to him, “ If you please we 
will change cups, and I will drink 
your health and you may drink 
mine.” He took her cup with joy. 
The princess put the cup to her 
lips, while the wise man drank his 
to the last drop, and fell back dead. 
Then Aladdin came in and said, 



THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 


59 


“ Princess, I must beg you to leave 
me for a short time.” When the 
princess was gone, Aladdin shut 
the door, went to the dead man, 
took the lamp out of his vest, and 
gave it a rub. The slave of the 
lamp came. “I bid thee,” said 
Aladdin, “ take this house to where 
it stood at first.” The house then 
went back to where it had been, 
yet none who were in it felt it 
move. Aladdin went to the 
princess’s room and gave her a kiss, 
and said, “ I can tell you, princess. 



60 


ALADDIN; OR, 


that your heart and mine will soon 
be full of joy.” N ext day Aladdii 
rose with the dawn, and put on one 
of his best robes. When it was 
just light, he went to the door, gave 
a look out, and saw the Sultan. 
They met at the foot of the great 
stairs of Aladdin’s house. The 
old Sultan could not speak for 
some time, so great was his joy that 
he had found his child once more. 
She soon came to him; he gave her 
a kiss and made her tell him all 
that had come to pass. Aladdin 



TEE WONDERFUL L AM P. 


61 


told his slaves to throw the wise 
man’s corpse on a rock, as the prey 
of birds. Thus Aladdin was safe 
from his arts. The Sultan died at 
a good old age, and as he left no 
sons the princess was to be queen; 
but as she was Aladdin’s wife, the 
great men of the state said that he 
should rule. There was to be a 
great feast when Aladdin put on 
his crown. In all the East, none 
had seen so great a feast as this was 
to be. At length the day came. 
There was such a crowd it took 



62 


ALADDIN. 


them some hours to get to the 
great mosque. Aladdin sat on 
a throne, and they had just put a 
crown of gold on his head, when 
. ... he woke, and found that it 
was all a dream : he had slept with 
his head on his father’s shop- 
board. 


» 





WHITTINGTON 

AND 

HIS CAT. 


In the reign of the great King 
Edward the Third, there was a boy 
whose name was Dick Whitting- 
ton, whose father and mother died 
when he was a small child, too 

63 


64 WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 


young to know them ; so that when 
they were dead he could not 
think of them, but was left a poor, 
young boy, all in rags, to run round 
in a small place far from all the 
great towns. As poor Dick was 
too young to work, he was at 
times in great want of food ; he 
had but a poor meal at noon, and 
there were some days when he 
had not a bite till then ; for those 
who dwelt in the small town were 
all poor, and could not spare him 
much more than a few beans, and 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 65 


now and then a hard crust. For 
all this Dick Whittington was 
quite a sharp boy, and took great 
pains to hear all that was said in 
the town. On the first day of the 
week, he was sure to get near the 
men who had farms, as they stood 
still to talk in the church yard, 
when the priest had not yet come. 
And once a week you might see 
Dick lean on the sign post of the 
chief ale house of the town, where 
the folks would go in to get a drink 

as they came from the next town. 

6 * 



66 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


And when the door of the shop 
where the men went to shave was 
not shut, Dick would hear all the 
news that the men who met there 
had to tell. In this way Dick 
heard some strange things of the 
great town of London ; for the poor 
folks, who did not know much at 
that time, thought that all the men in 
London were lords and dukes, and 
that all the girls got to be the wives 
of those great folks, and they 
thought that all the streets had 
gold in them in, place of stones. 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 67 


One day, a large cart, drawn by 
eight mules, with bells at their 
heads, drove through the town as 
Dick stood by the sign post. He 
thought that this cart must be on 
its way to the fine town of Lon- 
don ; so he made up his mind to 
ask the man who drove, to let him 
walk with him by the side of the 
cart. When the man heard that 
poor Dick had no father or mother, 
and saw by his rags that he could 
not be worse off than he was, he 
told him he might go if he would. 



68 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


So they set off side by side. I 
have not heard how it was that 
Dick got meat and drink on the 
road, nor how he could walk so 
far, for it was a long way; nor 
what he did at night, for a place 
to lie down and sleep in. It may 
be that some kind folks in the 
towns that he went through, when 
they saw how small he was, and 
that he was all in rags, gave him 
some food, and it may be that the 
man who drove the cart, let him 
get in it at night and take a nap. 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 69 


These things may or may not be 
so, but Dick got safe to London, 
and was in such haste to see the 
fine streets that had gold in them 
in place of stones, that I fear he 
did not stay to thank the kind 
man who had let him come with 
him, but ran off as fast as his legs 
could take him, through the streets, 
for he thought all the time that he 
would soon come to those that 
were full of gold ; for Dick had 
seen a gold piece three times, in 
his own town, and knew how 



70 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


much change it brought; so he 
thought he had but to take up a 
small piece of the stone and 
would then have all he could wish 
for. Poor Dick ran till he could 
run no more, and thought no more 
of his friend who had brought 
him to town ; but at last, as he 
found that it grew dark, and that 
each way he went, he saw naught 
but dirt in place of gold, he sat 
down in a dark nook, and cried 
till he went to sleep. Poor Dick 
was all night in the streets, and the 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 71 


next day, as he was in great want 
of food, he got up and went from 
place to place, to beg all who 
went by to give him a few pence, 
but no one staid to speak to him, 
and but two or three gave him 
some pence ; so that the poor boy 
was soon quite weak and faint for 
want of food. At last a man with 
a kind face came by and saw him 
look as if he would be glad of a 
piece of bread to eat. “ why 
don’t you go to work, my lad ? ” 
said he to Dick. “ That I would,” 



72 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


said Dick, “ if I knew how to get 
some work.” “ If you will work,” 
said the man, “come with me;” 
and as he said this, he took him 
to a hay field, where Dick was 
glad to work with all his might 
and live a gay life till the hay was 
all made. Then he soon found 
that he was once more in great 
want of food, and he lay down 
at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren, a 
rich man who kept a large store 
and sent out ships to sea. Here 
he was soon seen by the cook 



WHITTINGTON AND SIS CAT. 73 


maid, who was a cross thing: she 
said to poor Dick, “ What do you 
want here, you rogue ? the town is 
full of boys who beg. If you do not 
walk off at once, we will see how 
you will like me to pour some 
soap suds on you, that are so hot 
that they will make you jump.” 
Just at this time Mr. Fitzwarren 
came home to dine, and when he 
saw a boy, all rags and dirt, at his 
door, he said to him, “ Why do 
you lie there, my lad ? you are not 
too small to work, I fear you have 



74 WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 


not the wish to do so.” “ In truth, 
sir,” said Dick to him, “ that is not 
the case, for I would work with 
all my heart, but I know no one, 
and I think I am sick for want of 
food.” “ Poor boy !” said Mr. Fitz- 
warren, “get up and let us see 
what ails you.” Dick now tried 
to rise, but was too weak to stand, 
for he had had no food for three 
days, and could not run round and 
beg pence of folks in the streets 
So the kind man told them to take 
him in the house and give him 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 75 


some good food, and he said that 
he should be kept there, to do what 
work he could for the cook. Dick 
would have been full of joy in 
this good man’s house, had it not 
been for the cross cook, who did 
naught but find fault and scold 
him from morn till night. At last 
some one told Miss Alice, Mr. 
Fitzwarren’s child, how cross the 
cook was to him ; she said to the 
cross thing, “ Do you not think it 
a shame to be so cross to a poor 
boy who has no father or mother?” 



76 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


and she told her, too, that she 
should lose her place if she were 
not more kind to him. But 
though the cook was so cross, the 
man who stood at the back of the 
coach when Mr. Fitz warren drove 
out, was not so at all ; he had been 
in the house some years, and was 
quite an old man. He had once a 
son of his own, who died when he 
was Dick’s age, so he grew fond 
of the poor boy, and at times gave 
him some pence to buy cake or a 
top, for tops did not cost so much 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 77 


then as they do now. This man 
was fond of a book, and at night, 
when the men and maids had done 
their work, he would read to them. 
It gave Dick great joy to hear 
this good man read, and it made 
him wish to learn to read too ; so 
the next time his kind old friend 
gave him some pence, he bought 
a book with it, and with his help 
he soon knew how to read. Just 
at this time Miss Alice went out 
one day for a walk, and as the 
man whose place it was to wail 



78 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


on her at such times, was out of 
the way, and as Dick had a suit 
of good clothes that Mr. Fitz- 
warren gave him to go to church 
in, he was told to put them on, 
and walk near her. As they 
went on, Miss Alice saw a poor 
thing, with one child in her arms 
and one at her back. She took 
out her purse and gave her some 
pence ; but when she meant to 
put her purse by, she let it fall on 
the ground and went on. It was 
well that Dick was near and saw 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 79 


what she had done. He took up 
the purse and gave it to her 
Then, one day, as Miss Alice sat 
in her room to play with a pet 
bird, all at once it flew off to the 
branch of a high tree, where none 
of the men would dare to go and 
get it. As soon as Dick heard 
of this, he took off his coat, and 
ran up the tree like a mouse. It 
was quite a hard task to catch the 
bird, for Poll thought it was fine 
fun to hop from branch to branch, 
but he caught her and brought 



80 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


her down safe to Miss Alice, who 
gave him her thanks, and was still 
more kind to him than she had 
been. The cross cook was now 
not quite so cross, but there was 
one more hard thing that Dick 
had to bear. His bed, which was 
of straw, stood in a small room at 
the top of the house, where there 
were holes made by the rats in 
the floor and the walls. At night 
they ran on his face, and made 
such a noise that he would wake 
from his sleep. One day a man 


WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 81 


who came to see Mr. Fitz war- 
ren, said that he would like some 
one to clean .his shoes ; Dick took 
great pains to make them shine, 
and the man gave him two pence. 
With these he thought he would 
buy a cat, so the next day, as he 
saw a girl with a cat in her arms, 
he went up to her to ask her if 
she would let him have it for two 
pence. The girl said she would, 
with all her heart, for her ma had 
more cats than she could keep. 
She told him. too. that this one 



82 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


knew well how to catch mice. 
Dick hid his cat in his room, and 
took good care to share his food 
with her, and in a short time there 
were no more rats and mice there, 
and he slept as well as he could 
wish. Mr. Fitzwarren had a 
ship that was soon to sail, and as 
he thought it right that all his 
men and maids should have some 
chance to grow rich as well as he 
had, he sent for them to his room to 
ask them what they would send out. 
They all had goods of some kind 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 83 


that they were glad to send out, 
that is to say, all but poor Dick ; he 
had no pence and no goods to 
send, so he did not go to Mr.Fitz- 
warren’s room with the rest; but 
Miss Alice knew why he did not 
come, and sent for him ; she then 
said she would lay down some 
pence for him, from her own 
purse, but her pa told her this 
would not do, for Dick must not 
'.end what was not his own. 
When poor Dick hgard this, he 
said all he had was a cat which he 



84 WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 


had bought for two pence. “Fetch 
your cat, then, my good boy,” said 
Mr. Fitzwarren, “and let her go.” 
Dick went up stairs and brought 
down poor puss, and gave her to 
the man who had charge of the 
ship, with tears in his eyes, for he 
said now he should not sleep all 
night for the rats and mice. It made 
them all laugh to think what an 
odd thing it was that Dick sent, 
but Miss Alice felt sad to think 
how poor Qick was, and she gave 
him some pence to buy a new cat. 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 85 


This and some more kind acts 
that Miss Alice did, made the 
cross cook hate poor Dick, and 
she beat him more than she had 
done, and made game of him, for 
no cause but that he had sent his 
cat to sea. Then she would ask 
him if he thought his cat would 
sell for as much as would buy a 
stick to beat him with. At last 
poor Dick could bear this no more, 
and he thought he would run off 
from his place ; so he took the few 
things he had, and set out at dawn 



86 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 

on All Saint’s day. He went as 
far as Holloway, and there sat 
down on a stone (which to .this 
day bears the name of Whitting- 
ton’s stone) to think what road he 
should take next. As he sat still 
to think, the bells of Bow Church 
(which at that time had but six bells) 
rang out their chimes, and he 
thought they said to him: 

Turn again , Whittington , 
Lord Mayor of London. 

“ Lord Mayor of London !” said 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 87 


he. “ Why, to be sure, I would 
put up with all things now, to be 
Lord Mayor of London, and ride 
in a fine coach, when I grow to 
be a man ; well, I will go back, 
and not mind all the cuffs and 
harsh words of the old cook, if I 
am to be Lord Mayor of London 
at last.” Dick went back, and by 
good luck, got to the house in 
good time, and was hard at work 
when the old cook came down 
stairs. The ship with the cat on 
board was a long time at sea, and 



88 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


the winds drove it, at last, to a 
wild coast, where the men from 
the land where Dick was, had 
not been till then. Those who 
live there are Moors. The folks 
of that land came in great crowds 
to see the ship and the men on it ; 
they did not know what to make 
of them at first, for they were 
white, and the Moors were black ; 
they were kind to them, and when 
they knew them well, were glad to 
buy the fine things on board of 
the ship. When the man who 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 89 


had charge of the ship, saw this, 
he sent some of the best things he 
had to the King of the land, who 
thought them so fine that he sent 
for him and his chief mate to come 
to his house. Here they sat 
down on rich cloths, on the floor, 
which is the way they all do in 
that land. The King and Queen 
sat at one end of the room, and 
rich food was brought in for them 
all to eat ; but as soon as the food 
was there, great troops of rats and 

mice ran in,, and ate from all the 

8 * 



90 WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 


plates, and threw the sauce and 
bits of the meat to all parts of the 
room. The mate thought this 
quite strange, and said to the King’s 
slaves; “Do you not find these 
rats and mice quite in the way?” 
“Oh, yes,” they said, “and the 
King would give half his wealth to 
get rid of them, for they waste his 
food, as you see, and they run 
round so in his room at night, 
that some one has to watch him 
all the time he sleeps for fear ol 
them. The mate felt as though he 


WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 91 


should jump for joy when he heard 
this. He thought of poor Dick’s 
cat, and told the King he had a 
beast on board his ship that would 
kill all the rats and mice. The King 
was still more glad than the mate. 
“ Bring this beast to me,” said he, 
“ and if it can do what you say, I 
will give you your ship full of 
gold for her. The mate, to make 
quite sure of his good luck, said 
that she knew so well how to 
catch rats and mice, that he did 
not like to part with her, but that, 



92 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


to please the King, he would fetch 
her. “ Run, run,” said the Queen, 
“for I long to see her, since you 
say she will do us so much good.” 
Off went the mate to the ship, 
while they got some more food. 
He took puss in his arms, and 
came back to the house of the 
King, and found the room full of 
rats and mice. When the cat saw 
them, she did not wait to be told, 
but gave a jump from the mate’s 
arms, and in a short time laid a 
great part of the rats and mice 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 93 


dead at her feet. The rest of them, 
n a fright, ran off to their holes. 
The King and Queen were full 
of joy to get so well rid of such 
plagues, for in their lives, they had 
not had a meal in peace by day, 
nor a good sleep at night. They 
said they would like the beast that 
had done them so much good, to 
be brought for them to look at. 
On this the mate said," Puss, puss,” 
and the cat ran up to him, and 
sprang on his knee. He then held 
her out to the Queen, who gave a 



94 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


start back, and did not dare to 
touch a beast that could kill such a 
crowd of rats and mice ; but when 
she saw how. good the cat was, 
and how glad it made her to have 
the mate stroke her, she grew 
so brave as touch her too. At 
last the Queen took her on her lap, 
and there puss went to sleep. 
When the King had seen what 
puss could do, he bought all the 
goods that were in the ship, and 
then gave him a great deal of gold, 
which was worth still more, for 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 95 


the cat. The man who had 
charge of the ship then took 
leave of the King and Queen, and 
the great men of their court, and 
with all his ship’s crew set sail 
with a fair wind for the land of his 
birth, and got there in a short 
space of time. One day, when 
Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to 
his room where he wrote, and sat 
down at the desk, some one came 
tap, tap, tap, at the door. “ Who 
is there?” said Mr. Fitzwarren. 
“A friend,” said some one, as he 



96 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


came in at the door ; when who 
should it be, but the man who had 
charge of the ship, and the mate, 
just come back from the wild 
coast where the wind drove them; 
next to them came some men 
who had in their arms great lumps 
of gold, that had been paid by the 
King for the things on board the 
ship. They then told how they 
had sold the cat, and gave Mr. 
Fitzwarren the rich gift that the 
King had sent to Dick for her; then 
that good man said to his men : 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 97 


Go fetch him, we will tell him of 
the same ; 

Pray call him Mr. Whittington by 

name. 

Mr. Fitz warren now let them see 
what a true, good man he was, for 
when some of his clerks said so 
much gold was too much for such 
a boy as Dick, he said, “ God grant 
that I may not keep the worth of 
two pence from him ; it is all his 
own, and he shall have it, and no 
one else. He then sent for Dick, 

9 



98 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 

who at that time had to scour the 
cook’s pans, and was by no means 
clean, and did not like to go and be 
seen in that plight, so he sent word 
he could not go for fear the great 
nails in his shoes would spoil the 
smooth floor. But Mr. Fitz- 
warren made him come in, and 
had a chair set for him, so that 
poor Dick thought they meant to 
make game of him as the men 
and maids did down stairs ; and 
he said, “ I beg you, sir, not to 
play tricks with a poor boy, but 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 99 


let him go back to his work.” 
“ In truth, Mr. Whittington,” said 
Mr. Fitzwarren, “we all mean 
just what we say, and I am 
glad of the news these men have 
brought you, for your cat has been 
sold to the King of a wild coast 
where they had none, and he has 
sent you, for her, more gold than 
I have in the whole world, and I 
give you joy with all my heart. 
Mr. Fitzwarren then told the 
men to show Dick the great 
lumps of gold they had brought 



100 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


with them, and said, “ Mr. Whit- 
tington must now put it in some 
safe place. “Poor Dick did not 
know what to do for joy. The 
first thing he did was to beg 
Mr. Fitzwarren to take what 
part of it he chose, since it was he 
who told Dick to send his cat. 
“No, no,” said Mr. Fitzwarren, 
“ this is all your own, and I have 
no doubt you will use it well.” 
Dick next said to Mr. Fitzwarren’s 
wife, and then to Miss Alice, 
“Will you not let me give you 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 101 


part of my gold ?” But they would 
not, and at the same time told 
him that they were glad his cat had 
sold so well. But the poor boy 
had too kind a heart to keep it all, 
so he gave a good deal to the 
man who had charge of the ship, 
the mate, and all the crew, and 
then to his good friend who 
stood at the back of the coach 
when Mr. Fitzwarren drove out 
and to the rest of the men ; he 
was so good that he did not leave 
out the cross old cook. Then Mr, 


102 WHITTINGTON AND HIS OAT. 


Fitzwarren told him he had best 
•end for some men who sold coats, 
and those who sold boots, and hats, 
and put on a dress such as a rich 
young man ought to wear, and told 
him he should be glad to have him 
live in his house, till he could find 
one to suit him. When Dick had 
had the good taste to wash his face 
and curl his hair, and had on 
a new hat and a nice suit of 
clothes, his face was quite as good 
as those of the young men who 
came to see Mr. Fitzwarren and 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 103 


his wife and child, so that Miss 
Alice, who had been so kind to 
him, now thought him quite fit to 
be in love with her, and the more 
so, no doubt, as Dick now all the 
time tried to please her, and made 
her gifts that cost great sums. 
Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw how 
much they were both in love, and 
said he would make them man 
and wife, which gave them great 
joy. They did not take long to 
fix the day when they would be 
made one, and the Lord Mayor 


— 


104 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 


and a great crowd of rich men went 
to the church with them. When 
they left the church they had a 
fine feast. It is said that Dick 
and his wife had a gay life and 
were full of joy. They had some 
boys and girls, who were all good 
and gave them no grief. He was 
more than once Lord Mayor of 
London ; the last time he was so, 
King Henry the Fifth went to 
dine with him, when he got back 
from the great fight of Agincourt. 
While he was there, he said of 



WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 105 


Whittington. “Few Kings have 
such a subject.” When Whitting- 
ton was told this, he said, “ F ew 
subjects have such a King.” For 
some brave deed of his, the King 
made him a knight. Sir Dick 
Whittington fed the poor, built a 
church, and a good school, and 
paid for those who were too poor 
to pay. Near the school he built 
a house for the sick. Some men 
who knew how to carve stones 
and wood, made Sir Dick Whit- 
tington in stone, with his cat in 



106 WHITTINGTON AND HIS GAT. 


* his arms. It was to be seen till 
the year 1780, on the old arch 
lhat stood in Newgate Street. 



VALENTINE AND 
ORSON. 


One of the great Kings of 
France had a sister whose name 
was Bellisant, who was as fair as 
could be, so much so that more 
than one King sent to ask her to 
be his wife. The fair Bellisant 
chose Alexander, King of Greece, 
who came to the court of the 


8 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


French King to make her his 
wife. There was great joy in all 
France: and when they had been 
wed a few days, the King of Greece 
took leave of the French King, 
and took his fair bride, with great 
pomp and joy, to the small town of 
Thebes, where he at that time 
dwelt. Now there was, at the 
court of Thebes, a high priest, for 
whom the King had a great love. 
But this high priest was a bad 
man, who did not care how much 
pain he gave, if he did but gain 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


9 


his own ends. He made the 
King do his will in all things, and 
all the men of the land were to 
him like slaves. The high priest, 
when he saw how sweet and kind 
the Queen was, had some fear that 
the King would love her too much, 
and was so bad as to think that he 
would try to take the King’s heart 
from his fair and good wife. The 
King was a man of weak mind, 
and apt to think that all that he 
heard was true, and the high priest 
soon found means to put in his 



10 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


head bad thoughts of the Queen. 
One day, when the King had no 
one with him, the high priest came 
in his room ; he fell down at the 
King’s feet, and said, “ Great and 
wise King, may God keep you 
safe from those who seek to do 
you harm I am the priest of 
God, and may not seek the death 
of a man, nor may I tell the name 
of the man who has told me a 
thing that it chills my blood to 
think of, but, if you love your life, 
oh, King, I beg you to be on your 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


11 


guard with your Queen, for she 
is as sly and bad as she is fair, 
and she has laid a plan for your 
death. Oh, great King, my heart 
swells with grief and rage, to 
think that one so fair and so wise, 
and the sister of a great King, 
should grow to be so false and so 
bad.” The King, who did not 
doubt a word of what the high 
priest told him, could no more 
hide his wrath ; he did not say a 
word to the priest, but ran with 
all speed to the room of the 



12 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


Queen. He took hold of her 
long, fair hair, and his rage made 
him drag her by it, round and 
round the room, in a way that 
was both fierce and rude. “ Ah, 
my dear lord,” cried she, “what 
moves you to treat me thus ?” 
“ Base, mean wretch !” he cried 
out, “ I know too well your vile 
scheme.” He then threw her 
with great force to the ground, 
and left her, too ill to speak or 
move. The maids of the Queen, 
when they saw her lie on the floor, 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


13 


which was red with her blood, 
and found that she did not know 
them, and could not speak or 
move, gave such loud screams that 
they soon brought all the lords and 
dukes of the court, to the room of 
the Queen. They all felt sad to 
see their kind and good Queen in 
such a state, and the men of rank 
sent word to the King that they 
would like to speak to him. They 
thought they could make him see 
what a wrong he had done to the 
good Queen, in whom no one had 



14 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


yet seen a fault. But the King 
was yet mad with rage ; and the 
high priest from time to time told 
him things to keep up his wrath, 
and to the men of rank who spoke 
to him of her, he said, “ Let np 
man dare to speak a word for her 
who has been false to me. She 
shall die ; and they who take her 
part, shall share the fate of this my 
false and bad wife.” The Queen, 
who was now well of her swoon, 
fell on her knees, and with tears 
thus spoke to the King : “ Ah my 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


15 


lord, be kind to one who has not 
had one bad thought of you, and 
who would as soon die as do you 
wrong.” The King, who did not 
- doubt the false tales of the bad 
priest, would not hear a word more, 
and the men of rank, when they 
found that they could not make 
the rage of the King less, took 
Bellisant out of his sight. A man 
whose place it was to wait on her, 
and who was true to her in all her 
woe, now fell at her feet and said, 
“ Quit this harsh King, and let me 



16 


VALENTINE AND OBSON. 


lead you back to the good King 
of France. It will give him joy 
to get back his sister whom he 
loves. Fair and good Queen, do 
what I ask you, for if you stay 
here, the King will bring you to ^ 
death full of shame and pain.” 
“ No, Blandiman,” said the Queen, 
“ I must not do what you tell me; 
should I steal from the court and 
let no one know that I meant to 
do so, it might be said I had fled 
from the fear of death, and then 
they would think that this false 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


17 


tale that they tell of me, was true. 
Let the King put me to a death 
full of shame and pain if such be 
his will, but let me not bear the 
blame of that which I have not 
done.” The King, who had once 
been fond of his Queen, could not 
make up his mind to tell his men 
to take her life; yet, as the base 
high priest kept his mind full of 
false tales of her, he thought he 
would send her from the place 
where he was King ; so he told 
her to leave Greece at once. At 



18 


VALENTINE AND OBSON. 


the same time he gave out that no 
one, on pain of death, should aid 
or help the Queen, and she was 
to have no one to wait on her but 
her man, Blandiman, whom she 
had brought with her from France. 
When the King had said this, the 
Queen and Blandiman left the 
town in haste. As she went 
through the town, she was met by 
a crowd of folks, who wept for 
the loss of so good a Queen. 
When she had left Thebes, “Ah,” 
cried she, “in what a sad hour 


VALENTINE AND OllSON. 


19 


was I born, to fall from so high 
a lot, to so low a state as I am 
now in.” Woe is me! Now all 
my joy is fled. I wear no more 
cloth of gold, but am clad in a 
mean dress; my gems of great 
worth are all gone, and pearls of 
tears are all that are on my dress. 
What would they think at the 
. court where I was born, if they saw 
me in such a plight !” As she thus 
spoke, she wept, and her man said 
to her, “ Oh my Queen, do not 
give way to such grief, but trust in 



20 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


God who will keep and take care 
of you.” When he had said this, 
he saw a small stream not far off, 
and to this stream he and his 
Queen took their way. When 
they had had a drink and half an 
hour’s rest at the stream, they went 
on their way to the West, for far 
to the West of them lay France. 
For' some days and nights, void 
of rest and full of care, they went 
On and on, and at last came to a 
great wood on the edge of France ; 
but there the poor Queen was so 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


21 


worn out with pain and grief that 
she sank down on the ground and 
could walk no more. Her man 
got some dead leaves and moss 
to make a couch for her to rest on, 
and then went with speed to seek 
for some cot where he might get 
food and help for the poor Queen. 

While Blandiman was in search 
of food, the Queen, there, in that 
dark, cold wood, gave birth to two 
fine sons. She held the dear 
babes in her lap and shed tears of 
joy, when all at once a huge bear 



22 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


came up to her, took up one of the 
babes in its mouth, and ran with 
it to a thick and dark part of the 
wood. The poor Queen, wild 
with grief at the fate of her child, 
laid down the babe she still had, 
at the foot of a tree, and ran with 
shrieks and groans to try to catch 
the bear, till, sick with pain and 
fear, she fell down in a swoon, near 
the mouth of the cave to which 
the bear had borne her babe. It 
came to pass that the King of 
France, with some of the great 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


23 


lords and dukes of his court, had 
gone to hunt that day in this same 
wood, and by chance he went near 
the tree where the son of Bellisant 
lay on its bed of moss. The 
King was quite struck with the 
child, who gave him a sweet smile, 
and held out his arms as if to beg 
for aid. “ See, my lords,” said the 
King, “ this sweet child seems to 
beg me to take care of him. 
Here is no one to claim it, and I 
will take it for my own.” The 
King did not dream that it was the 


24 VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


son of his sister, Bellisant-, that he 
now gave to a page to take to his 
house. This page put the babe 
in the hands of a good nurse, 
and gave it, as the King had told 
him, the name of Valentine. The 
page had but just gone off with the 
child, when the King met Blan- 
diman ; he did not know what to 
think when he saw him, but rode 
up to him with speed, to ask him 
the news from Greece. Blandi- 
man bent one knee to the ground, 
and told the King all the things 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


that had come to pass, and the 
sad lot of the Queen ; but when 
the King of France had heard 
that the high priest had said 
that she had laid a plot to kill her 
spouse, he flew in a great rage 
with the poor Queen, and said, 
“ Now, I cannot think that the 
high- priest would say what was 
false, and her spouse, the King, 
did wrong to spare the life of this 
false and sly Queen; but let her 
take care how she comes near me; 
and hear me, my men, all of you : 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


from this time forth it is death to 
the man who names her where I 
can hear him.” When he had 
said this, he left Blandiman and 
went back to his own house. 
Blandiman, with a sad heart, went 
to search the wood for his dear 
Queen, and at length he saw her 
on the ground, where she sat and 
tore her hair, which hung loose on 
her neck, and gave wild cries of 
pain and grief. “ Ah Blandiman,” 
said she, “ can there be in the 
world one more full of grief than 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


27 


I ? But an hour since, I was full 
of joy to be the mother of two 
sweet babes. A huge bear took 
one from my arms, and while I 
went to try to get him back, the 
one I left here was, I doubt not, 
made a meal of by some wild 
beast too. At the foot of this tree 
I left it, when I went to try to catch 
the bear ; but my babes are both 
gone, and there is no trace of them 
left. They are gone, I shall see 
them no more, and there is naught 
left for me but to die. Go, Blan- 



28 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


diman, leave me here to die, and 
tell the great King, my spouse, to 
what a hard fate he left his pool 
Queen and his boys, when he 
gave ear to the bad words and 
false tales of the high priest.” 
Blandiman would not leave the 
poor Queen ; and when she grew 
more calm, he took her to a large 
house at one end of the wood, 
where some nuns dwelt. A few 
days from that time he told her 
how he had met the King of 
France, and how he flew in a 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


29 


rage with her, and thought the 
false tale of the high priest was 
true. This made the poor Queen 
still more sad, and she made up 
her mind to stay in the house 
where she then was, and do 
naught but pray to God for the 
rest of her days. The bear that 
took off the babe, bore it to her 
cave, and laid it down, with no 
harm done to it, in front of her 
young ones. But the cubs did 
not eat it, they did but stroke it 
with their rough paws ; and the 



30 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


old bear, when she saw that they 
were kind to the poor babe, gave 
it suck, and fed it, in this way, for 
the space of a whole year. The 
child kept in good health, and 
when it grew in strength it would 
run through the wood, and fight 
with the wild beasts with such 
skill that they would shun the 
cave where he still had his home 
with the old bear, who had grown 
as fond of him as if he had been in 
truth her own. He led this kind 
of life till he was grown up. He 



VALENTINE AND OJRSON. 


31 


had such great strength that all 
the men and beasts who dwelt in 
or near the wood, stood in great 
fear of him. They gave him the 
name of Orson when they found 
that he had been fed by a bear ; 
and the fame of this wild man 
spread to all parts of France. He 
wore no clothes, and made no 
sounds but a wild kind of howl, 
to tell his rage or his joy. The 
King of France had, at times, a 
great wish to see the wild man of 
the woods ; and one day rode, 


32 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


with his lords and dukes, to the 
wood where he dwelt, in hopes 
that he might meet him. The 
King left his train a few yards 
from him, and rode on till he got 
near the cave in which Orson 
dwelt. When he heard the sound 
of the feet of a horse, the wild man 
came out of the cave and sprang 
at the King, and would have slain 
him in no time, but for a brave 
knight who gave Orson a cut with 
his sword. Orson then let go of 
the King, and ran, in a rage, to 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


33 


the knight, caught him and his 
horse and threw them both down. 
The King, who had no arms at 
all, could not help the knight, but 
rode off to call the rest of the men 
to help him. But when they 
came to the spot, the poor knight 
was torn to bits, and Orson had 
fled to a thick part of the wood, 
where they could not find him, 
though they tried all day. The 
tale of the knight’s death, made all 
the men fear the wild man more 
and more, and a great part of the 


34 VALENTINE AND ORSON. 

men who dwelt in the towns near 
the wood, left their homes, and 
went to live some way off, so great 
was their fear of him. Valen- 
tine, in the mean while, had been 
brought up in the best style, with 
the King’s fair girl, Eglantine. 
Valentine was quite fond of this 
young girl, and so was she of him ; 
in truth she was as fair a Princess 
as there is in all the world, and he 
as brave and good a Knight. 
When the King saw that he had 
a taste for arms, he gave him all 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


35 


he could use, and a good horse too, 
and sent him to the wars ; for the 
French, at that time, were to 
march to fight the Saracens. It 
did not take Valentine long to 
show that he was more brave 
than all the rest of the men who 
had the lead. He fought near 
the King’s side, and when a troop 
of the Saracens took the King, 
Valentine rode, swift as the wind, 
through their ranks, slew them in 
crowds, p>ut the King on his horse 
once more, and led him off in joy. 



36 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


Then, when they went to take the 
chief town of the Saracens, he was 
the first to scale the walls, and 
raise the French flag on high. 
By his means the day was won, 
and France had peace once more. 
Valentine, when he had fought 
this good fight with the Saracens, 
went back to the court of the 
French King. All the folks met 
him with loud shouts of joy, and 
the Princess Eglantine was glad 
at heart when he came back. 
The kind words and deeds which 



VALENTINE AND OBSON. 


37 


the King and all the men in the • 
land gave him, made Henry and 
Haufrey, the King’s sons, hate 
him; and they two made a plot 
to take his life. The French 
King spoke to the great men of 
the court, of Valentine, he said : 
“My lords, this youth was so 
brave as to save my life, and to 
save his land from the Saracens ; 
for this I now make him an earl.” 
Henry and Haufrey were more 
and more in a rage with Valentine, 
when they heard what the King 

4 



38 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


had done for him, and they made 
up their minds to watch him well, 
till they should find some good 



chance 


came to 


pass when Valentine had not been 
long at home, since his fight with the 
Saracens, that some men who had 


farms sent to the King, to beg him 


to save them from Orson, the wild 
man of the woods, the fear of whom 
was now so great that the men 
did not dare to go out to till their 
fields, nor the boys to watch their 
flocks. The King gave out that 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


39 


if a man would bring Orson, dead 
or not dead, to the town, he would 
give him more marks of gold than 
he could count. “Sire,” said Hen- 
ry, “ I think no one is so fit to do 
this great deed as Valentine, whom 
you found in the woods, and whom 
you are so kind to, at all times. 
It may be that if he fights this 
wild man of the woods and slays 
him with his sword, you will 
give him for pay the hand of our 
sister Eglantine.” T o this the King 
said with a frown, “ Leave me, for 



40 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


your speech shows that you hate 
him, and can not bear to let me 
think that he is more brave than 
you are.” Valentine, with a stern 
look at the bad young man, said, 
“ Y ou do but wish me to go, that 
I may be slain, but I will do as 
you have said. Know that here, 
too, I shall not fail. I will go at 
once, and no one shall go with me 
to get this wild man and bring him 
here with me dead or not dead.” 
“No, Valentine,” said the King, 
“you shall not rush to your 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


41 


death, to please the ill will of bad 
young men.” “ I pray you, my 
liege,” said Valentine, “ to let me go, 
that men may still think well of 
me. I will run this risk and do all 
else I can to prove that your kind 
words and acts to me have not 
been in vain. No time shall be 
lost ; I will set out for the wood at 
the break of day.” When the 
Princess Eglantine heard what 
Valentine meant to do, she sought 
to make him give it up, and stay 
at home with her; but when she 

4 * 



42 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


found that he had made up his 
mind to go and fight the wild man 
of the woods, she put on him a 
scarf on which was the work of 
her own hands, and then went to 
her room to pray that he might 
come back safe. 

At the first dawn of day, Val- 
entine got up. He took his sword 
and his shield, which was as bright 
as a glass, and set out for the 
wood. When he came there he 
got off his horse and tied him to a 
tree ; he then went to the thick 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


48 


part of the wood to search for 
Orson. He went from place to 
place for a long time in vain ; at 
last he came to the mouth of a 
large cave, and thought that might 
be the place where the wild man 
hid. Valentine then went up a 
high tree near the cave, and sat 
down on a branch ; he had not 
been there long when he heard 
Orson’s roar in the wood. Or- 
son had been out to hunt, and 
came with a swift pace; he had 
a large buck that he had slain, on 



a 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


his back. Valentine was quite 
struck with his fine form, and the 
grace and strength and ease of his 
walk. He felt a kind of love for 
the wild man, and a wish that he 
could tame him, and not slay him 
with the sword. Valentine now 
tore off a branch of the tree and 
threw it at Orson’s feet, who, as 
he gave a look up and saw Val- 
entine in the tree, gave a howl of 
rage, and sprang up the tree like 
a flash of light. Valentine was 
just as quick as he was, and gave 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


45 


a leap down as far from him as he 
could. Orson, when he saw him on 
the ground, sprang down, and with 
his arms wide spread out, made a 
rush at his foe to throw him down, 
for that was the way he fought. 
But Valentine held up the bright 
shield, and Orson saw, all at once, 
not the man he meant to seize, but 
his own bare, wild, and fierce form. 
When Valentine put down the 
shield he saw once more his foe, 
and with a cry of rage ran to grasp 
him in his arms. The strength of 
* 



VALENTINE AND OBSOA. 


46 

Orson was so great, that Valentine 
soon saw that he could not save his 
own life if he did not use his sword. 
When Orson got a wound from 
his sword he did not know what 
to think of it ; he gave loud shrieks 
of rage, and at once tore up by the 
roots a large tree, and made a rush 
at Valentine. Orson got some 
bad wounds from the sword of 
Valentine, but with his big club he 
tried to crush Valentine to death, 
and Valentine could not at all 
times keep out of the reach of it 



. VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


47 


Just at this time the bear who had 
been Orson’s nurse, and who was 
now in the cave, when she heard 
his cries of rage, came out to see 
what hurt her pet. Valentine, 
when he saw her draw near, held 
up his sword to strike her a blow 
which would have made an end 
of her on the spot; but Orson 
ran to her ; he threw his left arm 
round the neck of the bear, and 
held up his right to Valentine to 
beg him to spare his old and true 
friend. A tear stood in Val- 



48 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


entine’s eye as he saw Orson take 
no more care for his own life, but 
try to make his foe spare the bear. 
Valentine laid down his sword 
and made signs that he would not 
hurt the bear, and to show that he 
meant to be kind he brought 
some grapes and a cup of strong 
wine that he kept near him to 
eat and drink in case of need, 
and gave them to Orson. As 
soon as Orson had had a taste of 
the sweet fruit, he gave it to the 
bear, and then let her drink the 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


49 


good wine, both of which seemed 
to please her much ; when Orson, 
glad to see her make such a good 
meal, threw his arms round her 
neck and gave her a kiss ; a^id the 
bear, who had a wish to show her 
love for him, laid her paw on his 
arm, and gaA>e' a soft growl, as if 
to show how glad she was to have 
him love her. Valentine now 
made some signs to Orson to try 
to get him to go with him, where 
ne should be fed and have clothes 
to wear, and where they would be 



60 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


kind to him. But Orson would 

not think of such a thing, and with 

a growl of rage made signs that 

he would not leave his dear bear, 

nor hig wild life in the woods. 

But it came to pass that the strong 

wine that the bear drank in such 

haste from Valentine’s cup was the 

cause of her death. With her 

paw on Orson’s arm, as we have 

just said, all at once she gave a 

faint howl and fell dead on the 

ground. Orson stood still for a 

short time ; he was so full of fear 
1 * 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


51 


that he did not move. Then he 
f hought that his old friend might 
but have gone to sleep ; he knelt 
down and tried to rouse her, but 
when he found that all he could 
do was of no use, his grief was so 
great that we do not know how to 
speak, or write of it. He threw 
his arms round the dead bear and 
gave wild shrieks of grief. At 
length, all at once he sprang up 
from the ground, went up to Val- 
entine, and made signs that he 
would now be his ; and while the 



52 


VALENTINE AND OBSON. 


tears ran down his cheeks for the 
loss of his bear, he let Valentine 
bind his hands, and went the way 
that he told him to go. Valentine 
took the road that led back to the 
court ; but as he went on, all the 
folks that he came near, ran off to 
their cots, when they saw the wild 
man, to hide. When they got to 
an inn where Valentine meant to 
pass the 'night, the men who dwelt 
there made fast their doors and 
would not let them come in. 
Valentine made signs to Orson, 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


63 


who, with his back to the door, 
gave it a push, and you may be 
sure it did not stay shut long 
The men and maids of the inn all 
ran out at the back door, and did 
not dare to go back. There was 
to be a great feast, and there were 
fowls and good meat of all kinds 
in front of the fire to roast. Or- 
son tore the meat off the spit with 
his hands, and then, as he saw a 
large pail that stood near, he put 
his head in it and drank like a 
horse. The next day, Valentine 



64 


VALENTINE AND OESON. 


went on his way, and led Orson 
as he had done the first day. 
When they got to the town, the 
men all shut their doors, and ran 
up to their roofs to gaze down at 
the wild man. 

When they got to the court of 
the King’s house, the man who 
kept the gate, shut it, and made it 
fast, in a great fright. He put on 
it great chains and bars, and he 
would not let them in. Valen- 
tine spoke to the man and tried for 
some time to get him to let them 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


55 


in, and when, at last, he found that 
all he said was in vain, he made a 
sign to Orson, who tore up one of 
the large stone posts that stood by, 
and broke the gate to bits. The 
Queen, the Princess Eglantine, 
and all their maids, fled to hide, 
when they heard that Orson had 
come in ; and it was quite hard 
for Valentine to make them think 
that Orson was no more wild and 
fierce, as he had been in the 
woods. At length the King let 
him be brought in, and the whole 



56 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


court soon came in a crowd to the 
room, and thought it great fun to see 
his wild looks and acts, but they 
took great care not to come too 
near him. Valentine made him a 
sign to kiss the King’s robe and 
the hand of the Princess Eglantine, 
and he did so, for he had now 
grown so fond of V alentine that 
he would do all he told him, but 
would let no man but him tell him 
what to do. If Valentine went 
for a short time out of his sight, 
he would give cries of grief, and 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


57 


knock down all the men that stood 
in his way, while he ran from room 
to room in search of him ; and he 
slept at night in Valentine’s room, 
on the floor, for they could not get 
him to lie on a bed. Orson had 
not been long at court, when there 
came a man sent by a great duke, 
whose home was not far off, to ask 
all true knights to come and fight 
for the fair Fezon, the great duke’s 
child, who was kept shut up in a 
dark cell by the green knight. 
The man sent by the duke, said, 



58 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


that the man who should fight the 
green knight and win the fight, 
should take the fair Fezon for his 
wife, and with her a great sum, to 
be paid in gold. This green 
knight was so well known for his 
bad deeds, and it was so well 
known, too, that he won in all the 
fights he had, that the young lords 
of the court all drew back and did 
not wish to try, for it was well 
known that there was the spell of 
a witch on him, to keep him from 
harm. And then, all the world 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


59 


knew that it was his way to hang 
on a tree, all the knights with 
whom he fought, as soon as the 
fight was won. But Valentine 
did not stop to think twice; he at 
once said he would go, and told 
the man he would set out the next 
day at dawn. The Princess Eg- 
lantine said not a word, but made 
up her mind, that, if she could, 
she would save her dear Valentine, 
and to do so, she meant to go and 
fight the green knight, and not let 
him do so. She knew how to 



60 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


fence and ride, and from time to 
time would do all such things, and 
she had all the skill, if not all the 
strength, of a man. While Val- 
entine slept, she got one of the 
men to get for her, Valentine’s 
sword and shield, and the rest of 
the things he wore when he went 
to fight. These she put on, and 
with no one with her but the maid 
she was most fond of, to whom she 
gave the dress of a page, she went 
to the place where the green knight 
dwelt, and where he kept the fair 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


61 


Fezon shut up in a dark cell. 
Valentine, in the mean time, rose 
at dawn of day, and could not 
find the things that he wore when 
he went to fight. When he heard 
that the Princess had them, and 
learnt where she had gone, he 
was half wild with the fear that 
she might be slain. He told the 
men to bring him his horse, and 
then with Orson with him, he set 
out in search of the Princess. 
Haufrey and Henry, as they had 

not got their wish, when Valen- 

6 


62 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


tine went to fight the wild man of 
the woods, now made up their 
minds that they would lay wait 
for him and kill him. So in one 
of the paths of a dark wood, they 
sprang on him and held him fast 
while he had not time to draw his 
sword. Orson, by chance, was not 
quite close to him, but when he 
heard Valentine’s voice, he ran up 
to Henry, who now had out his 
knife to stab Valentine in the 
back, and caught him in his arms. 
Orson’s grasp was so strong as 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


G3 


well nigh to crush Henry to death, 
and Valentine would have slain 
Haufrey, but he first tore off their 
masks, and when he saw that they 
were the King’s sons he left them 
to the shame which such a base 
deed would bring on them. It 
was hard work for him to get 
Orson to spare their lives, but at 
last he did so, and they left the 
bad young men in the wood and 
went on their way. 

By good luck they got to the 
place where the green knight 



64 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


dwelt, just at the time when the 
Princess Eglantine saw that it was 
no use for her to try to win the fight. 
Valentine now ran, in a great rage, 
up to the green knight, and the 
fight was long and hard for both 
of them. At length the green 
knight said he would like to stop 
and speak a word or two : 
“ Knight,” said he to Valentine, 
“ thou art brave and strong ; see, 
there hang twice ten knights with 
whom I have fought. When I 
had won I hung them on a tree* 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


65 


such will be thy fate. Take good 
heed of what I tell thee.” “ Base 
wretch,” said Valentine, “I fear 
thee not; come on, and do thy 
worst.” “First,” said the green 
knight, “fetch me that shield that 
you see, for, as thou art young and 
brave, I tell thee, that if thou canst 
not move that shield, it will be of 
no use for thee to try to save the fair 
Fezon, or win the fight from me.” 
Valentine went up to the shield, 
but though he tried as hard as he 

could, he could not get it down 

6 * 



66 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


from the tree, though at the first 
glance, he thought it did but hang 
by a small twig. Valentine, out 
of breath, for he had tried with all 
his might to pull down the shield, 
now stood still and leant back on 
the tree ; when the green knight, 
with a loud laugh, said, “ Fly, and 
save thy life, fair knight, for since 
thou canst not move that shield, 
it will not be thy lot to win this 
fight. More than this, know that 
there is no one on the whole earth 
who can fight with me and win, 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


67 


if he is not the son of a great King, 
and yet had for a nurse a wild 
beast.” Valentine gave a start 
when he heard these last words, 
and ran to Orson, who all this 
time did naught but look with joy 
and love, at the fair Fezon. Val- 
entine led him up to the shield, 
that was bound by a spell; this 
shield, when Orson held up his 
hand near it, fell at once from its 
place. A loud blast of wind now 
came through the trees, the ground 
on which they stood shook, the 



68 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


green knight, too, shook and grew 
pale, fear and rage made him 
gnash his teeth ; he took up his 
sword and ran at Orson, in a great 
rage. At the first blow, the good 
sword of the green knight broke 
to bits on the shield, for there was 
still a spell on it. Next he caught 
up a great axe, but that too, broke 
at once. He then told his men to 
bring him a lance, but that broke 
in the same way. Mad with rage, 
to see that he did but fail in all he 
tried to do, he now threw down his 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


69 


arms ; he knew how strong he was, 
and he meant to grasp Orson in 
his arms ; but Orson took him as 
if he had been a mere child, threw 
him to the ground, and would have 
put an end to his life on the spot, 
had not Valentine come to beg 
him to spare him. Orson held 
him down till some chains were 
brought, when, though the green 
knight tried all he could not to let 
him, he bound him with strong 
chains, that he might lead him to 
a cell. The green knight, when he 



70 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


found that he was bound hand and 
foot, spoke to Valentine ; he said, 
“ This wild man has won the fight, 
so there must have been some 
strange things in his life. Haste 
then to the house of my brother, 
where you will find a brass head, 
which will tell you who he is.” 
Valentine, when he had sent a man 
to tell the duke that his child was 
set free, sent the fair Fezon, with the 
Princess Eglantine, to the court of 
the King of France, while he and 
Orson went on to the house of the 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 71 

green knight’s brother, who was a 
huge man, twelve feet high. This 
house had for guards two bears, 
who gave a fierce growl of rage 
when they saw Valentine, but 
when Orson came near, they lay 
down to crouch and fawn at his 
feet. They went in, and there 
met a small dwarf who led them to 
a room, in which there was a great 
deal of gold, with pearls, and some 
more stones of great worth ; in 
the midst of the room there were 
four straight posts, two of which 



72 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


were like fine gold, a third more 
green than grass and a fourth 
more red than a flame of fire. At 
the side of these posts, was a large 
green stone of great worth, and in 
the midst, the brass head stood on 
a stand that was rich with gems 
and gold. In front of the stand 
stood a huge man twelve feet high, 
who held up his club so as not 
to let them come near ; but Orson 
took him by the waist and bore 
him from the room to a dark cell, 
where he made him fast with a 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


73 


chain. Valentine kept his eyes on 
the head, for he had a great wish 
to hear what it would say of his 
birth. At length, when Orson 
had come back, it spoke thus: 
“ Thou, O knight, whose fame is 
well known, art Valentine the 
Brave, and the man who is to 
be the spouse of the fair Prin- 
cess Eglantine of France. Thou 
art son to the King of Greece, and 
thy mother is Bellisant, sister to 
the King of France. She was 
sent from her throne for no just 


74 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


cause, and went to a house where 
nuns live ; there she has dwelt 
these twice ten years. The wild 
man, who has so long been with 
thee, is thy brother. Thou wert 
found and brought up by thy 
uncle the King of France, but a 
bear stole thy brother and was his 
nurse. Go, Valentine, to France, 
where thou wilt find the Queen, 
thy poor mother, who has done 
no wrong ; when she sees thy 
brother and gives him a kiss, he 
will know how to speak. Go 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


75 


and do well; these are the last 
words I shall say: when Val- 
entine and Orson come to this 
room, there is no more for me to 
do.” When it had said this, the 
brass head fell from its stand, there 
was a great storm, and the walls 
of the house shook ; it was quite 
dark on all sides, and when the 
light burst on them once more, 
they found that they were on a 
wide plain, and not a trace of the 
house was left. The dwarf at 
the same time came to them on 



76 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


a horse with wings, and said, 
“ Brave youths, I go to the court 
of the King of France, where 
your father and mother, the King 
and Queen of Greece, now are, 
to tell them that you will soon 
come.” Then the dwarf flew up 
in the air on his horse with wings, 
and was soon out of sight. Val- 
entine now fell in the arms of his 
brother Orson, and Orson in his ; 
and with a kiss to show their great 
joy and love, they set out to go 
to France. While all these things 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


77 


came to pass, the King of Greece 
led a life of great grief for the loss 
of his Queen. The bad high 
priest said at all times that she 
was a bad and false wife, and 
made the King think it true, till 
the time came for him to die. 
Then he felt sad to think of the 
wrong he had done. He sent for 
the King, and while the whole 
court stood by, he told him that 
all the things he had said of the 
good and kind Queen were false. 
The King’s grief knew no bounds. 

7 -* 0 0 



78 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


He set out at once for France with 
all the men of the court with him, 
to get the King of France to help 
him to search for poor Bellisant, 
to whom so much wrong had 
been done. In all the towns that 
he went through, on his way, he 
said how free from guilt she w r as, 
and said that he would give a 
great sum to the man who should 
bring .pews of her to the court of 
the French King. It came to pass 
that Blandiman, whose work was 
to buy food for the nuns in the 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


79 


house where the Queen now 
dwelt, when the King went by 
there, heard what he said and 
went with haste to tell the Queen 
of it. The Queen, full of joy to 
have it made known that she had 
done no wrong, left the house of 
the nuns, and went to the place 
where the King of France dwelt, 
where she was met with shouts of 
joy. The King of France and the 
King of Greece both fell at her 
feet, to beg her to think no more 
of the wrongs they had done her. 



80 


VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


The Queen told them that her love 
for them both was still as great as 
it had been, and she had but just 
time to tell all the ills and griefs 
she had borne, when in came the 
dwarf on the horse with wings to 
tell them the strange tale that the 
brass head had told, and that Val- 
entine and Orson were on their 
way to the court. At this news 
the Queen thought there was no 
one in the world so full of joy as 
she ; but the King shed tears 
when he thought of all the woe he 



VALENTINE AND ORSON. 


81 


had been the cause of, and all the 
risk that his dear Queen and his 
brave sons had had to run. The 
brave youths now came to their 
father and mother, and as soon 
as the Queen had thrown her 
arms round the neck of her son 
Orson, he found that he could 
speak, and the first words he 
spoke told his love to his mother, 
and father, and uncle, in a way 
that made all the men of the court 
love him. The duke, the father 
of the fair Fezon, who had come 



VALENTINE AND OSORN. 


to the house of the French King, 
to see his child and to tell her 
how glad he was that she was 
free from the green knight, now 
took the hand of Orson and led 
him to her, and said that she 
should be his wife ; the King of 
France at the same time put the 
right hand of the Princess Eglan- 
tine in that of Valentine. For a 
whole month, there was naught 
heard of in F ranee, but tilts and 
feasts and balls, and there was 
great joy through all the land. 





t 



LITT1 



RED CAP. 















LITTLE RED RIDING 
HOOD. 

Once on a time, there was on a 
farm, close to a small town, a girl 
who was as sweet a child as there is 
in the whole world. Her mother, 
of course, had a great deal of love 
for her, and her grandmother was 
still more fond of her. The good 
dame made for her, one day, a 
bright red hood. It was just the 
right size for her, and it made her 
look so sweet that they gave her 


84 LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 

the name of Little Red Riding 
Hood. One day when her mother 
had made some cheese cakes, she 
said to her, “ Go, my child, and 
see how your grandmother does, 
for I hear she is ill ; take her 
some of these cakes, and a pot of 
cream.” Little Red Riding Hood, 
with a small tin pail on her arm, 
in which were the cakes her 
mother had made, and the pot of 
cream, straight set out for her 
grandmother’s house, which was 
in a small town not far from 



LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 85 


where Little Red Riding Hood’s 
mother had her home. As she 
went through a wood, which lay in 
her road, she met a large wolf, 
which had a great mind to eat her 
up, but did not dare to, for fear of 
some men, who were at work at a 
tree, which they had to cut down, 
in the wood, not far from where 
Little Red Riding Hood and the 
wolf were. The wolf spoke to 
ler and told her he would like to 
know where she meant to go 
with her tin pail. The child, who 



86 


LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 


did not know that it was not wise 
to stop and speak to a wolf, said : 
“ I am on my way to see my grand- 
mother ; my mother gave me these 
cakes and this pot of cream, to take 
to her, for we have heard that she 
is ill.” “ Does she live a great way 
off ?” said the wolf. “ Oh yes,” 
said Little Red Riding Hood ; 
“ the mill that you see there, hides 
her house from us ; it is the first 
house in the town.” “ Well,” said 
the wolf, “ we will have a race ; I 
will take this way and you may take 


LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 


87 


that, and we shall see which will be 
there the first.” The wolf set out 
at full speed, and ran as fast as 
he could all the way ; the way 
he took was not much more than 
half as long as the way Little Red 
Riding Hood took ; and as she 
went on, from time to time she 
knelt down on the ground to pick 
up nuts ; then she would run to 
try to catch the birds that flew 
near her, and she made a gay 
bunch of wild pinks. The wolf 
got first to the house of the grand- 



88 


LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD 


mother, and gave a loud knock at 
the door. “ Who is there, said 
some voice in the house. “ It is 
Little Red Riding Hood,” said 
the wolf, and he tried to make his 
great gruff, voice sound like the 
sweet voice of the child. “ I have 
brought you a small jar of cream 
and some nice cheese cakes that 
mother has just made, for she 
heard that you were ill.” The 
good old dame, who was ill in bed, 
cried out, “ Pull the bobbin and 
the latch will go up.” The wolf 



LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 


89 


gave a hard pull at the bobbin and 
up went the latch. He went in, 
ran up to the poor old grand- 
mother’s room, sprang on the bed 
and ate her up in a trice, for it was 
three days since he had had a 
meal. The wolf put on the good 
old dame’s night dress, shut the 
door of the room, and then lay 
down in the bed to wait for Little 
Red Riding Hood, and he had 
not long been in bed when she 
came to the house. Tap! tap! 
“ Who is there ?” cried he. At 



90 LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 


first she was full of fear, when she 
heard the gruff voice of the wolf, 
but she thought it might be that 
her grandmother had a cold, so 
she said, “ It is I ; it is Little 
Red Riding Hood. Mother 
has sent you some cheese cakes 
and a small pot of cream. The 
wolf made his voice as soft as he 
could as he cried out, “ Pull the 
bobbin and the latch will go up.” 

Little Red Riding Hood gave a 
pull to the bobbin and up went 
the latch. When she came up 


LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 91 


stairs to her grandmother’s room 
the wolf kept quite hid in the bed. 
Then he tried to speak as if he 
were ill and quite weak ; he said, 
“ Put the tin pail on the stool my 
dear, and take off your clothes, 
and come to me in the bed.” 
Little Red Riding Plood, who at 
all times did just what she was 
bid, straight took off her clothes 
and went to bed ; but she thought 
it strange to see her grandmother’s 
looks, in her night dress, so she 
said to her, “ Dear me, grand- 


92 


LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 


mother, what great arms you have 
got !” “ That is so that I can hug 

you my child,” said the wolf. 
“ But, grandmother,” said the 
child, “ what great ears you have 
got !” “ That is so that I can hear 

you, my child,” said the wolf 
“ But then, grandmother, what 
great eyes you have got,” said the 
poor child. “ That is so that I 
can see you, my child,” said the 
wolf “ And, grandmother, what 
great teeth you have got,” said the 
poor child, who by this time felt in 



LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 


93 


some fear. “ They are to eat you 
up,” said the wolf, and when he 
had said these words, the bad 
beast fell on Little Red Riding 
Hood, and ate her up in one bite. 










— 






















— 











4 



|i 




« 


CINDERELLA. 
















CINDERELLA ; 

OR, 

THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 


There was once a rich man who 
lost his wife, and as he had been 
fond of her, her death gave him 
great pain. He was so sad when 
he had no wife that he thought he 
would take a new one, and then 
he might be as full of joy as he 


1 * 


6 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


had once been. But the wife he 
chose was both proud and cross 
to all who knew her ; no one 
could please her, and to those 
who were with her, she was as 
rude as she could be. She had 
two girls by the first man whose 
wife she had been, and she brought 
them up to be proud and to do no 
work ; in their minds and in their 
rude ways they were just like their 
mother; they did not love their 
books and would not learn to work; 
in short no one could like them. 



TEE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 1 


The man on his side too had a 
child, a girl who, with her sweet 
smile and kind heart, was just like 
her own mother, for whose death he 
had felt so much grief. He was 
in hopes that his new bride would 
take care of his dear girl, as her 
own mother would have done if 
she had not died. But as soon as 
she came to her new home, one 
could see what a bad heart she 
had. She could not bear the dear 
child, for her sweet ways made 
those of her own girls seem much 



8 CINDERELLA ; OR, 

worse. So she made her live 
down stairs with the cook, and if, 
by chance, she came to the room 
where she was, she did not cease 
to scold her till she was out of 
sight. She made her work with 
the maids, and wash the plates, and 
cups, and knives, and forks, and 
rub the chairs, and sweep and 
dust the grand rooms where the 
bride and her two girls slept. 
The walls were gay and bright, 
and in each room was a glass so 
long that it could well nigh reach 



the little GLASS SLIPPER. 9 


from the top of the room to the 
floor, and so broad as to touch 
both sides of the room ; while the 
poor child who kept the rooms 
neat had to sleep in a room at the 
top of the house, on a poor straw 
bed with coarse sheets, and too 
few clothes to keep her warm. 
The poor child had to bear all 
this. She did not dare to tell her 
father, whom she thought would but 
scold her, for she saw that his wife 
made him do all that she thought 
would be good for her and her 



10 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


two girls. When she had done 
her work, she used to sit down 
by the fire, and her gown would 
be close to the hearth so that in 
the house she went by the name 
of Cinderbreech ; but one of the 
girls who was not so rude as to 
call her by that name, gave her 
the name of Cinderella. And 
Cinderella, with all her dirt and 
rags, was ten times more sweet than 
her sisters, in all their fine clothes. 

It came to pass that the King’s 
son gave a ball to which he bade 



TEE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 11 


all who were rich and gay in the 
land : the two sisters of Cinderella 
were not left out, for the King’s son 
did not know how rude and bad 
they were, but thought as they were 
so sweet and good when he saw 
them, that they must be so at all 
times. ' He did not ask Cin- 
derella, for he had not seen her, 
nor heard of her. So the two 
girls went out to buy all they 
thought they should want to wear 
at the ball. They tried on the 
gowns and shoes, and things to 



12 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


wear on their heads, which they 
thought would look the best. 
All this was a new grief to poor 
Cinderella, for it was she who had 
to wash her sisters’ fine clothes and 
lace, and wait on them. Their 
talk all the time was of how 
they should dress “I,” said one, 
“will wear my red silk, with French 
fringe.” “ And I,” said her sister, 
“shall wear the same skirt I had 
made for the last ball ; but then, 
to make up for that, I shall put on 
my train with gold braid on it, and 


TEE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 13 


wear my pearls in my hair; with 
these I am sure to look well.” 
They sent some miles for the girl 
who knew best how to dress the 
hair, and all the things they wore 
were bought at the best shops. The 
sisters did not eat for two days, so 
great was their joy as the day 
drew near. On the day of the ball 
they let Cinderella come up stairs 
to talk with them of their dress, 
for they knew she had a great deal 
of taste. Cinderella told them 
what she thought would look well, 



14 


CINDERELLA; OR, 


and said that if they would let her, 
she would help them to dress. 
This -was just the thing to suit 
them, and so they let her do it. 
As she did all she could to aid 
her sisters, they said to her, “ Cin- 
derella, should not you like to go 
to the ball ?” “ Ah,” said Cinder- 

ella, “ do not laugh at me ; it is not 
for such as I am to think that I 
may go to balls.” “You are- in 
the right,” said they ; “ folks might 
well laugh to see a Cinderbreech 
dance in a ball-room.” Some girls 



TEE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 15 

in Cinderella’s place would have 
tried to make the proud girls dress 
in a way that would not look well, 
but, far from that, the sweet girl 
did all she could think of to make 
them look well. Cinderella broke 
more than twelve strings, as she 
tried to lace them so as to give 
them a fine shape, and they stood 
all the time in front of the glass. 
At length the day of the ball came, 
and the proud girls got in a fine 
coach. Next to the coach came 
two or three men in fine clothes to 



1(5 


CINDERELLA; OR, 


wait on them, and so they drove 
to where the prince dwelt. Cin- 
derella stood at the door to watch 
them as long as she could see 
them, and when they were out of 
sight, she sat down on the door step 
and cried. Her godmother, who 
saw her in tears, bade her tell her 
what made her cry. “ I wish, — 
I w-i-s-h,” said poor Cinderella 
with a sob, but she could not say a 
word more. The godmother, who 
was a fairy, said to her, “You 
wish to go to the ball, Cinderella ; 



TEE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 17 


is not this the truth ?” “ Ah, yes,” 

said the poor child, and she gave 
one more sob. “Well, well, be a 
good girl,” said the godmother, 
“and you shall go.” She then 
led Cinderella to her room and said 
to her, “ Run to the yard and bring 
me a gourd.” Cinderella ran like 
the wind, and brought as big a one 
as she could lift. Her godmother 
took out the seeds, and left just 
the rind ; she then struck it with 
her wand and the gourd was no 
more a gourd, but a fine coach 


18 


CINDERELLA; OR, 


with gold on the top and on all 
the sides of it. She then went to 
her mouse-trap, where she found 
six mice, none of whom were 
dead ; she told Cinderella to lift 
up the door of the trap with great 
care, and as the mice went out 
she laid the end of her wand on 
them one by one, and each one 
took the form of a fine grey horse. 
“ Here, my child,” said the godmo- 
ther, “ is a coach and six, as fine as 
your sisters’, but what shall we do 
for a man to drive ?” “ I will run,” 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 19 


said Cinderella, “and see if there is 
not a rat in the trap; if there should 
be one, can he not drive ?” “Well 
thought of, my child,” said her 
godmother ; “ make what haste you 
can. Cinderella brought the rat- 
trap, which, to her great joy, had 
in it three large rats. The fairy 
chose the one which had the best 
beard ; she gave him a stroke with 
her wand, and in less time than 
you could say Jack Frost, he grew 
to be a fine tall man, with a beard 
so long that it hung down to his 



20 CINDERELLA ; OR, 

waist. She next said to Cinderel- 
la, “Go back to the yard and you 
will find six snails, close by the 
well ; bring them here.” When 
this was done, with a stroke from 
the fairy’s wand, they were six 
young men, who all gave a jump 
up to the back of the coach in 
their fine clothes, and stood side 
by side as well as if they had 
stood there the whole of their 
lives. The fairy then said to 
Cinderella, “Well, my dear, is 
not this such a coach as you 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 21 


would wish for to take you to the 
ball ? Does it not please you ?” 
“Yes, but,” — said Cinderella, and 
she could not go on. At last she 
said, “Must I go. there in these 
rags ?” Her godmother gave her 
a slight touch with the wand and 
she saw no more her rags, but a 
fine dress with a fringe of gold 
thread, and pearls as pure as can 
be found in the whole world. 
She gave her too a pair of glass 
slippers, and bade her go to the 
house of the Prince. The fairy, 



22 


CINDERELLA; OR, 


when she took leave of Cinder- 
ella, told her by no means to stay 
at the ball till the clock struck 
twelve, for at twelve her coach 
would change to a gourd, each 
horse would change to a mouse, 
the young men at the back of the 
coach would be snails, and her 
fine clothes would be rags. Cin- 
derella said to her godmother, that 
she would do all she told her to, 
and, wild with joy, she drove to 
the house of the Prince. As soon 
as she got there, the King’s son, 



TEE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 23 


(who had been told that a great 
Princess, whom no one knew, was 
come to the ball) went to the door 
of her coach, gave her his hand 
to help her out, and led her to 
the ball-room. When Cinderella 
came in, all was still ; for a while 
there was no dance, and the band 
did not play ; all stood still to look 
at the fair girl whom no one knew. 
On all sides were heard the words, 
“ How fair she is !” The King, 
old as he was, could not keep his 
eyes from her, and said all the time 



24 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


to the Queen that it was long since 
he had seen one so fair. 

All who were at the ball tried to 
find out how her clothes were made, 
so that they might get some like 
them for the next day, if they 
should have the luck to meet with 
such rich stuffs to make them of, 
and girls who knew how to make 
them. The King’s son took her 
to the best seat, and soon led her 
out to the dance with him. She 
could both walk and dance with 
so much grace that the eyes of all 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 25 


were on her still more than at first, 
and they thought no one in the 
world was so fair as she was, or 
could dance so well as she did. 
By and by a rich feast was brought 
up, but the young Prince did but 
look at - her ; he could not eat. 
Cinderella sat near her sisters, and 
was so kind as to give them a 
part of the grapes and sweet things 
which the Prince gave her, while 
they, on their part, did not know 
what to make of these gifts from 
one whom they did not know. 



26 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


As they ate the nice fruit, Cinder- 
ella saw by the clock that it 
was near twelve. She rose from 
her seat, said good bye to the 
guests, and went out of the room 
as fast as she could. As soon 
as she got home she flew to her 
godmother, gave her her best 
thanks more than once, and told 
her she would give the world to 
go to the ball the next night, for 
the King’s son had said he would 
like her to be there. When she 
had told her godmother all she 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 27 


had seen and done at the ball, the 
two sisters gave a loud knock at 
the door, so Cinderella went to let 
them in. “ How late you are !” 
said she, and she gave a great 
yawn and put her hand up to her 
eyes to rub them, as if she had but 
just got up from her sleep, though 
she had in truth felt no wish for 
sleep since they had left her.. If 
you had been at the ball, said one 
of the sisters, you could not have 
slept. No one in all the land has 
seen so fair a Princess as came to 



28 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


the ball this night ; and she was 
so kind to us, and made us take 
a part of the grapes and sweet 
things which the Prince gave her. 
It was hard for Cinderella to hide 
her joy. She said to her sisters 
that she would like to know the 
name of this Princess, but they 
said that no one could find out who 
she >vas, which gave great grief to 
the King’s son, so that he said he 
would pay a large sum to the 
man who would find out where 
she came from. Cinderella could 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 29 


not hide a smile, and said, “ How 
fair she must be! Ah, how I wish 
I could see her, if it were but for 
one half hour ! Dear Miss Ann, 
will you not lend me the gown 
you wear all the time at home, and 
let me go to see her ?” “ Oh yes, 

I guess so ! lend my clothes to a 
Cinderbreech ! Do you think me 
such a fool ? No, no ! pray Miss 
Pert, £iind your own work, and 
leave dress and balls for those 
who are more fit for them than 
you are.” Cinderella thought she 



30 


CINDERELLA; OR, 


would make some such speech as 
that, and it did not grieve her, for 
she would have been quite at a 
loss what to do, if her sister had 
lent her the clothes that she spoke 
of. The next * night the sisters 
went once more to the ball, and 
so did Cinderella, but her dress 
was still more to her taste than 
the one she had on the first night 
of the ball. The King’s son kept 
by her side all the time, and said 
to her all the sweet things he 
could think of The fair young 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 31 


girl did not tire of the joys of the 
ball ; no, far from that, she had so 
much joy in them that she did not 
once think of what her godmother 
had told her. Cinderella at last 
heard a clock strike ; it struck one, 
two, three, four, five, and so on 
till it came to twelve, though she 
felt sure it could not be so late. 
She got up and flew like a deer 
out of the ball-room. The Prince 
tried to catch her, but poor Cin- 
derella’s fright made her run so 
fast that he could not get near her. 



32 CINDERELLA ; OR, 

But in her great haste she let fall 
one of her glass slippers ; the 
Prince made one of the men 
whose place it was to wait on him 
stoop down and pick it up and give 
it to him, and he took great care 
of it. Cinderella got home quite 
out of breath, in her old clothes, 
with no coach, no men to drive 
or stand at the back of the coach, 
and no trace of her fine clothes 
left but one glass slipper, like the 
one she had let fall. In the mean 
while the Prince did not fail to 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 33 


ask all the guards at the doors 
of his house if they had not 
seen a grand Princess pass out, 
and which way she went. The 
guards said that no Princess had 
gone through the doors, and that 
they had seen no one but a girl all 
in rags, who did not look fit to beg, 
much less to be a Princess. When 
the two sisters came back from the 
ball, Cinderella thought she would 
ask them if they had found it as 
gay as they did the first night, 
and if the fair Princess had been 



u 


CINDERELLA; OR, 


there. They told her that she had, 
but as soon as the clock struck 
twelve she ran from the ball-room, 
and in the great haste she made, she 
had let fall one of her glass slippers, 
which was as small as could be ; 
that the King’s son had found it, 
and had done naught else all the 
rest of the night but sit still and 
look at it, and that all thought he 
was much in love with the fair 
Princess who had let it fall. This 
was the truth ; for when a few 
days had gone by, the Prince made 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 35 


it known that he would take for 
his wife the girl whose foot would 
just fit the slipper he had found. 
So he sent out some of his men, 
who took the slipper and went 
first to all the Princesses ; then 
to the next in rank, in short they 
went to all at the court, but found 
no one who could wear the 
slipper. They then brought it 
to the two sisters, who each tried 
all she could to put her foot in the 
slipper, but saw at last that it 
could not be done. Cinderella all 



36 


CINDERELLA ; OR, 


the while stood by and saw all that 
was done; she knew her slipper, and 
could not hide a smile as she said, 
“ Pray, sir, let me try to get on the 
slipper.” He made her sit down, 
and put the slipper to her foot. It 
went on with ease, and he saw 
that it was just the right size. The 
two sisters did not know what to 
think when they saw that the slip- 
per was the right size for Cinder- 
ella, but who can tell what they 
felt, when she drew from her work 
bag the mate to it, and put it on. 



THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 37 


Just then the fairy came in. She 
gave Cinderella a touch with her 
wand, and in place of her rags was 
seen the dress she had worn the last 
night she was in the Prince’s house. 
The two sisters then saw that she 
was the fair Princess they had 
seen at the ball. They fell at her 
feet to beg her to think no more 
of their rude acts and cross words. 
Cinderella bade them rise and 
gave them each a kiss with much 
love. She said that she would 
think jio more of what they had 


38 


CINDERELLA. 


done if they would but love her. 
Cinderella was then led, in her gay 
dress, to the young Prince, who 
found her as fair and good as he 
thought her the two nights he saw 
her at the ball ; so he said she 
should be his wife ; this came to 
pass in few a days, and as she was 
as good as she was fair, she gave her 
sisters fine rooms in the house of 
the Prince, and soon they were 
the wives of two great lords of 
the Court. 









THE FAIR ONE WITH 
THE GOLDEN LOCKS. 

There was once a fair and good 
Princess, whose name was The 
Fair One with Locks of Gold, for 
her hair shone as gold shines, and 
fell in curls down to her feet. On 
her head she wore all the time a 
bright wreath. This wreath was 
made with first a white rose and 
then a red rose, and so on, and with 
them pearls and rich gems of all 
kinds. A rich young King whose 

39 


40 


THE FAIR ONE 


» 


land lay next to hers, and who 
had heard how fair she was, fell 
in love with her, though he had not 
seen her, and sent to ask if she 
would be his wife. The man who 
was sent to ask her if she would 
be the wife of the King, wore a 
rich dress, and with him went 
ten men to wait on him, each of 
whom sat on a fine horse. The 
King, who had made up his mind 
that he would have the Princess 
for his wife, told the man who was 
sent to ask her, to say all the kind 



WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


41 


things he could think of to please 
her, and he had great hopes that 
he would bring the Princess back 
with him ; but it might be that 
that day she did not feel well, or 
that she did not like the things 
that were said to her, I do not 
know which ; but she told the man 
to thank the King for his kind 
wish, and say that she had no mind 
to be a wife at all. When the man 
got back to the King’s chief town, 
where the King stood near the 
gate to watch for him, the men of 



42 


TEE FAIR ONE 


the land felt great grief to see that he 
had comeback and had not brought 
with him the Fair One with Locks 
of Gold, and the King wept like a 
child. 

There was a youth at Court who 
was as fair and bright as the sun. 
There was no one at Court who 
had so fine a form or who knew 
so much as he, and for his grace 
and wit, they gave him the name 
of Avenant, which means, full of 
grace and wit. The King was 
fond of him ,and in truth all men 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 43 

were fond of him, but those who 
had bad hearts, and who could 
not bear to see the good young 
man have more of the King’s love 
than they had. As Avenant took 
a walk one day with some men, he 
said, and did not wait to think if it 
was a wise thing to say : “ If the 
King had sent me to the Fair 
One with Locks of Gold, I dare 
say I could have said some things 
that would have made her 
come back with me.” These men, 
who in their hearts did not wish 


f 



44 


THE FAIR ONE 


Avenant good luck, ran as fast as 
they could go, to the King, and 
said, “ Sir, sir, do you know what 
Avenant says ? He boasts that if 
you sent'him to the Fair One with 
the Locks of Gold, he could have 
brought her with him, which 
shows -he is so vain as to think 
that his face is as fine as your own, 
and that her love for him would 
have made her go with him to the 
end of the world.” Then the 
King flew in a great rage. “ What!” 
said he, “ does this young scamp 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


45 


make a jest at my bad luck, and 
think that he could do more than 
I could ? Go as fast as you can, 
and put him in a dark cell, and 
there let him starve to death.” 
The King’s guards went at once 
to seize Avenant, who thought no 
more of what he had said, took 
him to a dark cell, and put on him 
such chains as they would have 
put on a wild beast. One day, 
when his strength was well nigh 
spent, he gave a deep sigh, and 
then cried out, “ What wrong can 



46 


TEE FAIR ONE 


the King think I have done? 
There is not a man in all the land 
who is more true to him than I 
am, and all I have done in my 
whole life has been with a view to 
please him.” The King by chance 
stood just then close by the door of 
his cell, and he stood still to hear 
him, though those that were with 
the King tried to talk so loud that 
he could not hear Avenant, and 
did not wish to let him stop. 
“ Hold your peace,” said the King, 
“ and let me hear him out.” When 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


47 


he had done so, he felt sad to think 
that Avenant, whom he had been 
fond of, should be in so much 
grief, so he went to the door of 
the cell, and spoke to him, and he 
made the man who had the key 
of the cell let Avenant out. So 
he came forth in a sad plight, and 
fell on his knees at the King’s feet ; 
“ What have I done, sir,” Said he, 
“ that you should thus load me 
with grief and pain ?” Thou hast 
made fun of me, and of the man 
whom I sent to the Fair One with 



TNE FAIR ONE 


43 * 

the Locks of Gold, and hast said 
that if I had sent thee to her, thou 
couldst have brought her with 
thee.” “ It is true, sir,” said Av- 
enant, “for I would have told her 
of all the things that are great and 
good in you, and then she could 
not have had the heart to say no 
to me, and all the things I said to 
her I would in truth have said in 
your name, and not in my own” 
Now that Avenant had had a 
chance to tell the King what he 
meant, the King found he had 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


49 


done no wrong, so he bade him 
leave his cell and come with him, 
for his kind heart was quite sad to 
to think of the wrong he had done 
him. The King told his men to 
give Avenant a good meal, for he 
was faint for want of food, and 
then he sent for him to come to 
his room. “ Avenant,” said he, 
“ I still love the Fair One with 
Locks of Gold. I have a mind to 
send thee to her, to try if thou 
canst get her for me.” Avenant 
said that he was glad to do all 

5 



50 


THE FAIR ONE 


things that the King told him, and 
would set out the next day at 
dawn. “ Hold,” said the King, 
“ I will give thee a fine horse and 
twelve men to go with thee and 
wait on thee.” “ There is no 
need of that,” said Avenant ; “ I 
want naught but a good horse, 
and a note from you to let the 
Princess see that it is you that 
have sent me Then the King 
gave him a kiss, he was so glad 
to hear that he would set out so 


soon. 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


51 


It was on the third day of the 
week that he took leave of the 
King and his friends. He left the 
King’s house at break of day, and 
soon he came to a large field. As 
he rode through it, a fine thought 
came to his mind ; so he got off 
his horse, and sat down by the 
bank of a small stream, that ran 
on one side of the field, and wrote 
the thought down in a small book 
that he had with him. When he 
had done so, he gave a good look 
round him on all sides, for there 



52 


THE FAIR ONE 


were charms for him in the fair 
scene that -met his eyes ; all at 
once he saw a large carp, that 
shone like gold. It shook its 
head, and that was all it could do, 
for it had tried to catch some small 
flies, and, as it did so, it gave a 
leap so far out of the stream, as to 
fall on the grass, where it was well 
nigh dead, for it could not live on 
the land, and could not get back to 
the stream. Avenant thought he 
would help the poor thing, and 
though it was a fish day, and he 



WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


5 " 


would have been glad to take it 
with him and cook it to eat at noon, 
he took it up and put it with care 
in the stream, where the carp, as 
it felt the cool stream, grew well 
and strong and felt quite gay. It 
went down to the stones and mud 
on which the stream ran ; but soon 
it came up once more, brisk and 
gay to the side of the stream. “ Av- 
enant,” said the carp, “ I thank you 
for the kind act you have done to 
me ; had it not been for you, I had 
died ; but you have been so good 



64 


TEE FAIR ONE 


as to save my life, and I will pay 
you for it, when you need my help. 
The next day, as he still went on 
his way, he saw a crow in great 
fear, for close to it he saw a huge 
bird of prey, which would soon 
have come up with it and put an 
end to its life. He took his bow, 
which he had at all times with him 
when he was out of doors, and took 
aim at the bird of prey ; he let fly 
a shaft which hit him in the heart 
so that he fell down dead. When 
the crow saw this, it came and sat 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 55 • 

on a tree near Avenant, half wild 
with joy. “ Avenant,” said the 
crow, “ you have been kind, (more 
kind than most men are,) to help 
me, who am but a poor, black 
crow ; but I will not cease to think 
of what you have done, and one 
day will do you as good a turn.” 
Avenant was struck with the sense 
of the crow, but thought no more 
of what he had done, and went on 
his way. One day, when it was 
not yet dawn, he came to a thick 
wood ; it was so dark that it was 



56 


TEE FAIR ONE 


hard for him to find his way, and 
there he heard the voice of an owl, 
who cried out as if in great pain 
or grief. He gave a look round 
him on all sides and at last came 
to a place where some boys had 
spread their nets in the night time, 
to catch poor birds. “ What a 
shame it is !” said he, “men seem 
to be made each one to tease the 
rest as much as he can, or else to kill 
poor dumb things that can do them 
no harm !” When he had said this 
he took out his knife, cut the cords 



( 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS . 57 

and let the owl go free ; but as it 
flew off, it said, “ Avenant, the 
boys, who would have put an end 
to my life are close at hand, they 
would have caught me and I 
must have died, if you had not 
come to save my life. I have a 
heart full of thanks for what you 
have done, and will not cease to 
think of it, as long as I live.” 
These three things were all that 
were strange, while Avenant was 
on his way, and when he got to 
the place it was his aim to reach 



58 


THE FAIR ONE 


he took a bath, and put on a suit 
of cloth of gold. When he had 
done this, he put a scarf with rich 
work on it, round his neck, and 
took in his arms a small dog that 
he was quite fond of. And Av- 
enant was so good and kind, 
and all that he did was done with 
so good a grace, that when he 
stood at the gate of the Fair One’s 
house, all the guards took off their 
hats to him, and all strove to see 
who should be the first to tell the 
Fair One with Locks of Gold, 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS 


59 


that Avenant, a man sent by the 
King, whose land was next to hers, 
had come to her house to see and 
speak with her. When the Fair 
One with Locks of Gold heard 
the name of Avenant, she said, 
“ It has a sweet sound, and I dare 
say he is as good as his name, and 
all who know him love him and 
she said to her maids, who at all 
times stood near her, “ Go, bring 
me my gown of blue silk, with rich 
work of gold thread on it ; dress 
my hair, and bring me my wreaths ; 



CO 


THE FAIR ONE 


let each rose be fresh and pure, 
just from the bush ; let me have 
my high shoes and my fan ; and 
let my room, where I see those 
who have things of great weight 
to say, and my throne, be clean, 
and on them rich cloths ; for I 
would have him say with truth 
through all the land, that I am in 
fact, what men say I am, the Fair 
One with Locks of Gold. Thus 
all her maids were soon at work 
to dress her as a Queen should be. 
At length she went to a room 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS 


61 


where there was a glass at each 
end, and one at each side ; there 
she stood and gave a look to see 
if her dress was as it should be, 
and if there were no more things 
she could put on to make her 
look well ; then she went up to 
her throne of gold and rare wood 
from the far East, the sweet smell 
of which was like the sweet smell 
of the best of balm. She told her 
maids, too, to take their harps and 
play and sing their sweet songs, so 

that no one could fail to be pleased. 

6 



62 


THE FAIR ONE 


Avenant was then led to the 
room where the Fair One with the 
Locks of Gold sat on her throne, 
and he stood there, so wild with 
joy to see so fair a sight that, as 
he told his friends when he got 
home, at first he could not move 
his lips to say what he came there 
for. But at last he took heart and 
made his speech with much grace. 
In this speech the last thing he 
said was to beg the Princess not to 
let him have the bad luck to go 
back, and not take her with him. 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


63 


“ Y oung Avenant,” said she, “ all 
that you have said is good, and 
well said, and I had as lief go with 
you and be the wife of your King, 
as stay here and reign in my own 
land ; but you must know that 
four or five weeks since, I went to 
take the air by the side of a stream, 
with my maids who wait on me ; 
as I took off my glove, there came 
off with it a ring that I wore night 
and day, and this ring fell in the 
stream and was lost. This ring I 
care more for than for my land and 



64 


THE FAIR ONE 


my throne, so you can judge how 
sad I am to think I have lost it ; 
and I have made a vow that I will 
not be the wife of a man, though 
he be a rich and great king, if the 
man who comes to ask me, will 
not bring me my ring. This is 
the gift which you have to make 
me, and if you do not do so, you 
may talk your heart out, for though 
months and years may pass I will 
not draw back from what I have 
said.” When he got back to the 
place where he slept at night, he 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


G5 


did not stay to take his tea, but 
went to bed with a sad heart ; 
and the small dog that he had with 
him, whose name was Cabriole, like 
him, would take no food, but went 
and lay down by his side. Ave- 
nant spent the night in sighs and 
groans and tears, and said, “How 
can I find a ring that fell in a 
great stream more than a month 
since . All men would say that I 
had not the least sense, if I did but 
try to find it. The Fair One with 

Locks of Gold, when she gave me 

6 * 


% 



66 


THE FAIR ONE 


this task, knew that no man could 
do such a thing, and that is why 
she told me to do it.” His sighs 
and groans grew worse ; Cabriole 
saw this and said, “ Dear Avenant, 
you, who at all times are so good 
and kind to me, and whom I will 
serve as long as I live, pray do not 
give up all hope ; you will not lose 
your good luck, for you are too 
good a man to fail in what you try 
to do ; so when it is day, let us 
go to the side of the stream.” 
Avenant did not say a word, but 


WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


67 


gave his dog two or three slight 
taps with his hand, and as he was 
worn out with grief, he at last went 
to sleep. But when Cabriole saw 
that it was broad day, he gave 
such a loud bark that the young 
man woke. “ Rise, sir,” said he ; 
“ put on your clothes and let us 
go and try what luck we shall 
have.” Avenant thought that what 
his small dog said was wise, so he 
got up, put on his clothes and wen 
down to the yard, and then he went 
out of the yard to the side of the 



68 


THE FAIR ONE 


stream. He did not mean to go 
there, for he thought there was no 
hope that he should find the ring, 
but he went on with his hat low 
down on his eyes, and his hands 
at his back, and thought that all he 
had to do now was to take his 
leave, and go back to his King, 
when all at once he heard a voice 
call, “Avenant! Avenant!” which 
made him look round ; but as he 
saw no one, he made up his mind 
that it could not have been his 
name that he heard, and so he 



WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


69 


went on his way ; but soon he 
once more heard a voice call him. 
“Who calls me ?” said he. Ca- 
briole, who was close to the stream, 
gave a look in, and cried out. 
“ Oh Avenant, look here ; the voice 
comes from a carp that shines like 
gold.” Then the carp came up 
to the top of the stream, and with 
a voice that was so loud that it 
could be heard twelve yards off, 
said, “ Avenant, you were so 
good as to save my life, down in 
the field of oaks, where I must 



70 


THE FAIR ONE 


have died, if it had not been for 
your help, and now I am come to 
pay you for that kind deed. Here, 
my dear Avenant, here is the ring 
which the Fair One with the 
Locks of Gold let fall in the 
stream.” So Avenant bent down 
to the stream and took the ring 
out of the carp’s mouth, and gave 
him his best thanks. And now 
he felt that he need not take his 
leave, he went straight to the gate 
of the house where the Fair One 
with Locks of Gold had her home. 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


71 


He took with him his small dog, 
Cabriole, who did not cease to 
skip and jump and wag his tail 
for joy that he had made Avenant 
walk by the side of the stream. 
When the Fair One was told 
that Avenant would like to speak 
to her, “ Ah,” said she, “ the poor 
youth has come to take his leave 
of me. He has thought that what 
I told him to do, can not be done, 
and he will go back to his King.” 
But Avenant, when they let him 
in, went up to the throne, on which 



72 


THE FAIR ONE 


she sat, and gave her the ring 
As he did so, he said, “ Fair One 
see, I have done what you told me, 
and now I hope you will let the 
King, who sent me here, take you 
for his wife.” When she saw her 
ring, and that no harm was done 
to it, she did not know how 
to think that her eyes told her the 
truth. “ I am sure, young man,” 
said she, “ some fairy must have 
come to your aid, for if you had 
not some such help, this could not 
have been done.” “ Fair One,” 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


73 


said he, “ I know no fairy, but 1 
had the will to do what you told 
me to.” “ Well, then, since you 
have so good a will,” she went on 
to say, “ there are more things 
that you can do for me, and if you 
do not do them I will not be a 
wife. 

“ There is a great Prince, who 
lives not far from here, whose 
name is Galifron, and who will not 
rest at ease, if I do not let him 
make me his wife. He told me 
his mind with harsh threats that 

7 



n 


THE FAIR ONE 


if I said no to him, he would come 
to my land with fire and sword, 
but you shall judge if I could be 
the wife of such a man ; he is as 
tall as the spire of a church ; he 
eats up men as an ape eats nuts ; 
when he goes through his land, he 
takes great ten inch guns in his 
hands to fire in place of the small 
guns that most men use ; and 
when he speaks out loud, it makes 
the ears of those that are near "him 
quite deaf. I told him that I did 
not choose to be a wife, and when 



WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


75 


I said that I was in hopes that he 
would ask me no more. But he 
does not cease to write and ask me 
to be his wife ; he has put my men 
to the sword, and he has slain 
crowds of them ; so if you wish me 
to go with you to your King, you 
must first fight him and bring me 
his head.” Avenant gave a start 
when he heard this, but when he 
j^ad thought of it for a while, he 
said, “ W ell, ma’am, I will fight 
this Galifron ; I think that he will 
slay me, but I will die like a man 



76 


THE FAIR ONE 


who is proud to lose his life, if, 
when he does so, he can serve 
his King and the land of his birth.” 
When the Fair One with Locks 
of Gold had heard his bold words, 
she thought still more of him than 
she had done, and could not bear 
to have him slain ; so she said all 
she could to keep him from such a 
sad fate, but it was all in vain, for 
he would go ; he had made up 
his mind that he would win her 
for his King. At last he came to 
the strong fort where Galifron was. 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


77 


The roads all the way to it were 
strewn with the bones of the men 
whom this vile wretch had cut to 
bits, or made a meal of. In a 
short time, Avenant saw the huge 
man come near, and it did not 
take him long to tell him that he 
would fight him, but there was no 
need for this, for Galifron took up 
his great mace, made of steel, and 
would have beat out the brains 
of young Avenant at the first blow, 
but a crow just then took her 
seat oh Galifron’s head, and it took 



78 


THE FAIR ONE 


her but a short time to peck out 
both his eyes ; the blood ran 
down his face, which made him 
wild with rage, and he struck 
with his mace on all sides, but 
Avenant took care to keep out of 
the way of his blows, and gave 
him some great wounds with his 
sword, which he did not fail to 
put in him, quite up to the hilt, so 
that in half an hour the wretc.h 
grew faint and fell to the ground, 
with loss of blood. Avenant then 
cut off his head, and while he was 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


79 


so wild with joy that he did not 
know .what to do, the crow flew to 
a tree and stood on a limb near 
him, and said, “ Avenant, the kind 
act that you did has not gone out 
of my mind. You slew the bird 
of prey that would have put an 
end to my life. I told you that I 
would pay you for it, and now I 
have been as good as my word.” 
‘‘You have, in truth, been kind, 
Miss Crow,” said Avenant, “ I 
now owe you my life, and shall be 
glad at all times to do you a good 



80 


THE FAIR ONE 


turn if I can.” When he had 
said this, he got on his horse and 
rode off with the huge head of 
the man he had slain. When he 
came to the town, all the world 
ran to him and cried out, “ Long 
live the brave Avenant, who has 
slain the man whom no one else 
could slay!” So that the Fair One, 
who heard the noise, and shook 
with fear lest she should hear of 
the death of young Avenant, 
durst not ask what was the cause 
of the noise. But soon she saw 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


81 


Avenant come in with the huge 
head in his arms ; when she saw 
the huge head she once more 
shook with fear, though now there 
was no cause for it. “ Fair One, ‘ 
said he, “ you see that he who 
would have made you his wife by 
force, and come to your land with 
fire and sword, is dead, and you 
have no more to fear from him. 
Now I hope you will cease to say 
no to the King who sent me 
here.” “Ah,” said the Fair One 
with Locks of Gold, “ I must still 


82 


THE FAIR ONE 


say no to him, if you can not find 
means to fill me a vase from the 
spring in the Cave of Gloom. N ot 
far from here,” she went on to say, 
“ there is a deep cave, five or six 
leagues round; the door to it is 
kept by two fierce dragons. The 
dragons dart fire from their 
mouths and eyes, and when you 
have got through the door of this 
cave, you will meet with a deep 
hole : down this hole you must go, 
and you will find it full of worms 
and snails and toads and snakes. 


WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


83 


Deep in this hole there is a kind 
of vault, and through this vault 
there runs a spring, the name of 
which is the Spring of Health. 
The vase which I will give you, 
you must fill at the spring; the 
things that it can do are most 
strange. Those who are fair, when 
they wash with it, do not cease to 
be so, and those who are not so, 
grow fair at once ; if they are young, 
it keeps them young ; and if they 
are old, it brings back their youth. 
Now judge you, Avenant, if I 



84 


THE FAIR ONE 


will leave my land, if some man 
will not first take a vase and fill it 
for me at that spring.” “ Ma’am,” 
said he, “ you are so fair that you 
need no aid of this kind ; but I see 
that though I have been sent to 
you by a good and great king, you 
seek my death. Yet I will go in 
search of what you ask, though it 
is a sure thing that I shall come 
back no more.” At length he 
came to the top of a high hill, 
where he sat down to rest, for it 
was a warm day and he had made 



WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


85 


all the haste he could. He let go 
the rein of his horse that he might 
feed, and Cabriole ran from place 
to place, to try to catch flies. 

He knew that the Cave of 
Gloom was not far off, and he 
gave a good look on all sides to 
see if he could find it, and at 
length he saw a huge rock as black 
as ink, whence there came out a 
thick smoke, and just then he saw 
one of the dragons, who cast forth 
fire from his jaws and eyes; his 

skin on his back was blue and 

8 « 



86 


TEE FAIR ONE 


green, and on his sides red as 
blood. He had great claws, and 
a long tail which he could roll up 
in ten times ten folds. 

Avenant made up his mind 
that he would fight him and die. 
He drew his sword, and with the 
vase in his hand which the Fair 
One with Locks of Gold gave 
him to fill at the Spring of Health, 
he drew near to the cave, and as 
he did so he said to his small dog, 
“ Cabriole, here is an end of me. 
I can not fill this vase at the spring ; 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


87 


the dragons guard it with too 
much care. So when I am dead, 
fill this vase with my blood and 
take it to the Fair One that she 
may see what this hard thing that 
she bade me do has cost me. Then 
go to the King who sent me here, 
and tell him of all the bad luck 
that has come to me.” When he 
had said this he heard a voice 
call “Avenant! Avenant!” “Who 
calls me ; ” said he, and soon he 
saw an owl in a hole in the trunk 
of an old tree ; as he stood still to 



88 


TEE FAIR ONE 


look, he heard the owl call his 
name once more, and then it said, 
“ Y ou were so kind as to save me, 
when the bad boys had laid a snare, 
and meant to kill me for their 
sport. I should have lost my life 
had it not been for you : I told you 
I would pay you for it, and now 
the time is come for me to do so ; 
I know all the ways in and out of 
the Cave of Gloom ; give me your 
vase, and I will go and fill it for 
you at the Spring of Health.” 
Avenant was most glad to give 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


80 


him the vase, and the owl went to 
the cave ; no one could keep out 
the owl, for it flew up high, so that 
the dragons could not reach it, so 
it went in, and in less than half an 
hour it came out with the vase 
quite full. Avenant was full of 
joy at his good luck ; he gave the 
owl his best thanks for what he 
had done for him, and went back, 
with a gay heart, to tne town. 
When he got there he went 
straight to the house of the Fair 

One with Locks of Gold, and 

8 * 


90 


TEE FAIR ONE 


gave her the vase ; so then 
she could no more say that she 
would not go with Avenant. She 
gave Avenant her thanks, and told 
her maids to pack up all the things 
that she would need to go to the 
land of Avenant’s King ; then they 
set out on their way. As they 
went on, the Fair One with 
Locks of Gold found that Ave- 
nant was as wise and good as he 
was brave, and said to him more 
than once on the road, “ If it had 
been your wish, I could have made 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


91 


you a King, and then we need 
not have left my land.” But when 
she said such things, Avenant said 
to her, “ I would not have done so 
great a wrong to my King, whom 
I serve, though it might have 
brought me all the lands of the 
earth. Yet I must say that you 
are more fair and bright than the 
sun.” At length they came to the 
chief town of the King, who, when 
he heard that the Fair One with 
Locks of Gold had come, went 
forth to meet her, and made her 



92 THE FAIR ONE ' 

rich gifts of all the fine things in 
the world, they were wed mid 
feasts and balls and loud shouts of 
joy, from all the folks in' the land, 
so that no one could talk of aught 
but them. But the Fair One with 
Locks of Gold had great love for 
Avenant in her heart, and felt no 
joy when he did not chance to be 
with her. She spoke at all times 
in his praise. “ I should not have 
come here,” said she to the King, 
“ had it not been for Avenant, who, 
to serve me, found a ring which I 


* 


WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 


93 


had let fall in a stream where no 
one else could find it ; he slew a 
huge man whom no one else 
would dare to go near, and there 
is one thing more for which you 
owe him thanks. I sent him to a 
spring which no one else could 
get at, to fill for me a vase, by 
means of which I shall keep, all my 
life, as fair and in as good health 
as I am now.” The men with bad 
hearts who could not bear to see 
the good luck of Avenant, and who 
heard the Queen’s words, said to 



94 


THE FAIR ONE 


the King one day, “ Sir, if you had 
not the best of hearts, you would 
see the wrong that the Queen and 
Avenant do you, for she is in love 
with him with her whole heart.” 
“Is that so ?” said the King. “In 
fact, now that I think of it, I see 
the truth of what you have told 
me. Let him be put in a dark 
cell, with chains on his feet and 
hands.” So they laid hands on 
Avenant at once and took him to a 
dark cell. On his hands and feet 
they put chains of such weight 





WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 95 

that he could scarce move. But 
his small dog Cabriole did not 
leave him, but did the best he 
could to cheer him, and brought 
him all the news of the court. 
When the Fair One with Locks 
of Gold heard of his sad fate, she 
fell down at the King’s feet, and, 
all in tears, tried to get him to let 
Avenant out of his cell. But the 
more she tried to move the Kint - 
the more his rage grew, for he 
thought that she felt more love for 
Avenant than for him, and that it 



96 


THE FAIR ONE 


was this love that made her beg 
so hard for him to be let out. 
When she found she could not 
gain her end, she said no more to 
him, but she grew day by day 
more sad. The King took it in 
his head that she did not think 
him as fair as Avenant, so he 
thought he would wash his face 
with what was in the vase that 
the Queen had sent by Avenant 
to the Spring of Health, in her 
own land, in hopes that the Queen 
would then feel more love for him 




WITH GOLDEN LOOKS. 97 

than she had done so far. This 
vase stood on a stand in the room 
of the Queen, where she had put it 
that it might not be out of her 
sight. But one of the maids 
whose place it was to sweep that 
room, tried to kill a fly with her 
short broom, and by chance threw 
down the vase, so that all that was 
in it ran out. She dried it up 
with all the speed she could, and 
at first she did not know what to 
do, but it came her mind to that 





98 


THE FAIR ONE 


jar of some kind of clear stuff, 
that was just like what she had 
spilt. So with no more loss of 
time, she went and got the jar, 
and put in the vase as much as 
it had in it when she had the bad 
luck to throw it down, and then 
put the jar back in its place. N ow 
this stuff which was in the King’s 
room, was a kind of drug, which 
he made use of to kill the great 
lords and dukes of his court, when 
he found that they had done some 
great crime. He did not wish a 



WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


99 


lord or duke to be hung, or have 
his head cut off, so he made him 
rub his face with this drug, which 
put him to sleep, a sleep so deep 
that he woke no more on earth. 
Now the King, who thought he 
would like to grow fair, one night 
took up the vase, and for half an 
hour did not cease to rub his face 
with the drug. At the end of that 
time he went to sleep and died. 
Cabriole was one of the first who 
found out what had come to pass, 
and ran with all speed to tell Av- 



100 


THE FAIR ONE 


enant of it, who bade him go to 
the Fair One with Locks of Gold 
and ask her if she still thought of 
his chains and his dark cell. Ca- 
briole went with all the haste he 
could through the crowd ; no one 
saw him, for there was a great 
noise and stir at court, when they 
found that the King was dead ; he 
soon made his way to the Queen. 
“ Ma’am,” said he, “ Do you 
think no more of poor Avenant?” 
This brought to her mind all that 
the poor youth had borne for her 


WITH GOLDEN LOCKS. 


101 


sake, and what he had done for 
her. She did not say a word, but 
went straight to the dark cell, and 
took off the chains from Avenant’s 
hands and feet with her own fair 
hands ; then she put the crown on 
his head, and threw the King’s 
cloak round him. “ Dear Av- 
enant,” said she, “ I will make you 
a great Prince, and take you for 
my spouse.” Avenant fell down 
at her feet, and in terms of great 
love gave her his thanks. All the 
men in the land were o-lad to have 



102 


TEE FAIR ONE. 


him for their King. They were 
wed with great feasts and balls, 
such as had not been seen till then 
in all the world; and the Fair 
One with Locks of Gold, had the 
good luck to live a long time with 
her dear Avenant, and they both 
had naught but peace and joy to 
the end of their lives. 



ROBIN HOOD. 

The time when King Richard 
the First was on the throne, was 
not at all like the times we now 
live in ; the roads were bad, and 
those who went from home were 
apt to meet with thieves, and there 
were large woods and parks, in all 
parts of the land, full of deer. At 
that time the great Robin Hood 
was born. His father had great 
skill in the use of the bow. Rob- 
in had an uncle whose name was 



6 


ROBIN HOOD. 


Gamewell. His home was a grand 
hall, twice ten miles from the 
house of Robin Hood’s father. 
When Robin Hood was not 
much more than twelve years old, 
his mother said one day to his 
father, “ Let Robin and me ride to 
Gamewell Hall, to-day, to taste 
the good cheer of my brother.” 
Her spouse said, “ Do so, my 
dear ; let Robin Hood take my 
gray horse, and the best reins and 
whip ; the sun will soon be high 
in the sky, so pray make haste, for 



ROBIN HOOD. 


7 


this night will be Christmas Eve.” 
The good wife then made no 
more fuss, but put on her best 
cloak and gown, which were 
green ; . Robin got his large knife, 
and his sword with a great hilt, 
and his new suit of clothes, and so 
rode, with his mother at his back, 
till he came to Gamewell Hall. 
Squire Gamewell told them more 
chan ten times, that he was glad to 
see them, and the next day there 
was a great feast set out in the hall, 
and when the guests had come, 


8 


ROBIN HOOD. 


the squire said to them, “ I am 
glad to see you all, but not a man 
here shall taste my ale till he has 
sung a Christmas song.” This 
made them all clap their hands 
and shout ; and they sang till 
the hall, and, in fact, the whole 
house rang with their noise. 
When the feast was done, the 
priest said grace, and the squire 
once more bade his friends be gay. 
“ It snows and it blows out of 
doors,” said he, “ but we are snug 
here ; let us have more ale and 



ROBIN HOOD. 


S 

lay some logs on the fife.” He 
then sent for Little John, “for,” 
said he, “ Little John is a fine lad 
at games, and all sorts of tricks, 
and it will do your hearts good to 
see him.” When Little John 
came, he had, in truth, as much 
skill as the squire had said, but 
Robin Hood got up and did just 
the same tricks, with still more 
skill. The squire was quite glad 
to see this, and said, “ Robin, you 
shall no more go home, but shall 
stay and live with me. Y ou shall 



10 


ROBIN HOOD. 


have my hall and my land when I 
die, and till then you shall be the 
joy and hope of my age.” Robin 
Hood said he would do this, if 
his uncle would but give him 
Little John to wait on him. One 
time, when Robin Hood was gone 
to spend a week with his father 
and mother, Squire Gamewell 
grew ill. In those days, when 
folks grew ill they sent for the 
priest to come and see them. 
Now there was a large house 
where monks and priests dwelt, 


ROBIN HOOD. 


11 


near Gamewell Hall, and the 
squire sent for one of the priests or 
monks to come and pray by the 
side of his bed. The place where 
these monks dwelt, was a fine old 
house ; it had a large hall in the 
midst, and a great wing on the 
right side, but there was no wing 
on the left, so the two sides did 
not match. Now the want of a 
left wing was a great grief to the 
monk who came to Gamewell 
Hall ; he thought of it all the time, 
so he made the squire think that 



12 


ROBIN HOOD. 


he could not die like a good man, 
if he did not give his house and 
land to the monks. The squire 
was so ill that he did not well 
know what he did ; he did not 
think of Robin Hood, and all that 
he had said he would do for him, 
so he put his name to a deed 
that the monk brought him, in 
which he gave them all that he 
had. As soon as Robin Hood 
heard that his uncle was ill, he 
made haste home, but the squire 
had been dead half an hour when 



ROBIN HOOD. 


13 


Robin got there. The monks 

now drove Robin Hood out of 

the hall ; and as his father was 

poor, Robin was thus sent out in 

the world to earn his bread as 

best he could. Robin Hood did 

not know what to do ; he had led 

the life of a rich man, and did not 

know how to work, for his uncle 

had told him that he would not 

need to learn a trade. But he 

knew some young men who had 

been brought up just as he had 

been, and were as poor as he was, 
2 



14 


ROBIN HOOD. 


he got these young men to go 
with him, and they went to live 
what they chose to call a gay life 
in a great wood, not far from the 
place where Robin was born. 
Here there were great herds of 
deer, and Robin Hood and his 
men knew well how to shoot them 
with the bow ; but they were in 
need of bread as well as meat, so 
they made up their minds that 
their trade should be to rob all 
that came by that way. From 
this time forth no man could go 



HOB IN HOOD. 


15 

through the wood, if he had not a 
great crowd with him ; if he was 
so rash as to go when no one else 
went, he had to give up his purse. 
Robin Hood and his men did not 
stay all the time in the same wood, 
but went from place to place, all 
through the land. His gang soon 
grew to be more than five score 
men, and some of them were as 
fine, and tall, and bold men as 
there were in the land. Robin 
Hood made them all dress in the 
same way ; he wore red at all times, 


/ 


16 


ROBIN HOOD. 


and each of his men had a green 
coat, a pair of pants and a cap. 
Though Robin Hood was a thief, 
which, to be sure, is a bad thing, 
yet he was in some things so kind, 
that he had the good word and 
good will of all the poor folks 
in those parts. He would not 
steal from those who were poor, 
or from those who had good hearts, 
and would use his wealth to do 
good. As he had lost his lands 
by means of a sly priest, he did 
not like priests at all, and in truth 



ROBIN HOOD. 


17 


the priests at that time did such 
things that no one could like them, 
so that Robin was not thought 
the worse of, for the way in which 
he would treat them. When he 
met with poor men in his walks 
he did not take their goods from 
them ; in place of that he gave 
them pence from his own purse. 
He would let no one rob or hurt 
a girl ; and if there was a wrong 
done, he would take the part of 
the weak, or the one to whom the 
wrong was done, not the part 



18 


ROBIN HOOD. 


of the strong ; so that men, with 
truth, said of him, that though a 
thief he was a kind and good thief. 
It gave Robin Hood joy to do 
strange and odd things, and he 
was as fond of a joke as he was of 
a good prize. One day, as he 
took a walk in the wood, with no 
one with him, he met a man who 
sold meat. This man rode on a 
fine mare, and had a large bag on 
each side, full of meat. “ Good 
day, my good man,” said Robin ; 
“ where are you off to, so soon ?” 


f 


ROBIN HOOD . 


19 


The man said, “ My trade is to 
sell meat, and I am now on my 
way to the town, to sell the meat 
which I have with me.” “ I have 
not learnt a trade,” said Robin ; 
“ I think I should like to sell 
meat. What shall I give you for 
your mare, and your bags, and 
all that is in them ?” “ They are 

not dear at four marks, said the 
man, and I will not sell them for 
less.” Robin made no more 
words, but gave him the marks and 
then made the man give him his 



20 


ROBIN HOOD. 


blue coat and white pants, for 
Robin Hood’s fine dress. 

When Robin Hood had put on 
the man’s dress, he rode straight 
to the town. The man whose 
place it was to hang thieves had 
all the stalls where meat was sold, 
so Robin went to him to hire one. 
But as you would guess, he did 
not know much of his trade, and 
in truth, as long as he had meat 
to sell, no one else could sell a' 
joint, for Robin Hood sold more 
meat for two pence than the rest 



ROBIN HOOD. 


21 


could do foi five. “To be sure,” 
said they, “this is some young 
chap that has sold his father’s 
land.” The men then went up to 
Robin Hood. “ Come young 
man,” said one of them, we are all 
of one trade ; will you go and dine 
with us?” “I should be a mean 
chap,” said Robin, “ if my trade 
was the cause of shame to me, so 
I will go with you. It was the 
man whose place it was to hang 
thieves, who kept the inn, and he 
sat at the head of the room. 



22 


ROBIN HOOD. 


When the meal was at an end, 
Robin Hood said he would pay 
the bill for them all. The man who 
kept the inn was a sly old wretch, 
who had a great love for gold, and 
when he saw that Robin Hood 
did not care for his, he thought he 
would not lose such a chance to 
get more. “ My good man,” said 
he, “hast thou some beasts with 
horns to sell to me?” “That I 
have, my good sir,” said Robin 
Hood ; “ I have nine or ten score, 
if you will please to go and see 


ROBIN HOOD. 


23 


them.” The man told his groom 
to get his horse for him. He 
cook with him a great bag of gold, 
and off he went with Robin 
Hood. The road they took lay 
through the wood where Robin 
Hood’s men were, and as they 
rode on, the man cried out, “ God 
keep us this day from a man they 
call Robin Hood.” But in a 
short time, as they went on, there 
came, by chance, out of the wood 
some five score good fat deer, 
who ran quite near them. How 


24 


ROBIN HOOD . 


do you like my beasts with horns, 
good sir?” said Robin Hood ; 
“these are what I told you of.” 
“To tell you the truth,” said the 
man, “ I wish I were not here, f&r 
I do not like to be with you.” 
Then Robin Hood put his horn 
to his mouth, and all at once there 
came out of the wood, Little John, 
and Robin Hood’s five score men, 
all with their green clothes on. 
‘What is your will, sir?” said 
Little John. “ I have brought 
here the man whose place it is to 


ROBIN HOOD. 


25 


hang thieves,” said Robin Hood ; 
“ he has come to dine with me to- 
day.” “We are all glad to see 
him,” said Little John ; “ I hope 
he will pay us well for his meal.” 
Robin Hood now made the man 
sit down at the foot of a tree, and 
when they had all had a good 
meal, and drank as much as they 
chose, he took the man’s bag, 
and all the gold that was in it. 
He then put the man on his nag 
once more and led him out of the 
wood. “ Good luck to you,” said 

3 



26 


ROBIN HOOD . 


Robin, and off he went with a 
laugh. As Robin Hood took a 
walk one day in the wood, he saw 
a tall young man who had fine 
clothes on, and who sang for joy, 
as he ran through the wood. 
When Robin Hood went to the 
same place the next day, he saw 
this same young man, but he went 
by with a slow step ; he had not 
his fine dress on ; his hair hung 
loose on his neck, and at each step 
he gave a deep sigh and said, 
“Ah, well a day!” Robin Hood 



ROBIN HOOD. 


27 


sent one of his men to bring the 
young man to him. “ What is it,” 
said Robin Hood, “ that weighs . 
down your heart? why were* you 
so full of joy when I saw you twice 
twelve hours since, and why are 
you so sad to-day?” The young 
man now took out his purse. 

“ Look at this ring,” said he ; “I 
bought it but a short time since ; 
a fair young maid whom I have 
been fond of for more than six 
long years, was to have been my 
wife. But now she has gone to 


28 


110 BIN HOOD. 


church to be made the wife of a 
man I can not bear.” “Do you 
. think she loves you?” said Robin 
Hood. “ She has told me so/’ 
said Allen-a-Dale, for that was his 
name, “scores ol times.” “Then 
she is not good for much,” said 
Robin Hood, “ if she can change 
her love.” “ She does not love 
him,” said Allen-a-Dale. “ Why 
do you think so?” said Robin 
Hood. “ He is a poor lame old 
man,” said Allen-a-Dale, “ and 
not at all fit for so young and fair 



ROBIN HOOD. 


29 


a lass.” “ Then why does she let 
him take her for his wife?” said 
Robin Hood. “Why, the old 
knight is rich,” said Allen-a-Dale, 
“and her father and mother will 
have it so ; they scold and storm 
at her till she is as meek as a 
lamb.” “ Where are they to be 
wed?” said Robin Hood. “In 
our church,” said Allen-a-Dale, 
“ but five miles from this place, 
and a priest who is the knight’s 
brother, is to make them one.” 
Robin Hood said no more, but 



30 


ROBIN HOOD. 


put off his red suit, he put on a 
dress like that of a man who goes 
from place to place to play the 
harp, and took a harp in his hand. 
He then told twice twelve of his 
men to go with him, but not to 
keep too near ; then he went to the 
church, and found the priest with 
his robes half on. “ What do you 
want here?” said the priest. “ I 
am a man that plays the harp;” 
said Robin Hood, the best in all 
the land ; I heard there was to be 
a bride and groom here, and I am 



ROBIN HOOD. 


31 


come to play for them.” “You 
may stay if you like,” said the 
priest ; “ I shall be glad to hear 
you play.” In a short time the 
bride and groom came in. The 
old knight came in with a limp, 
and could scarce walk up the 
church ; next to him came a maid 
as fair as the day, and with a blush 
on her cheek, like a Spring morn. 
“This is not a fit match,” said 
Robin Hood, “and I can not let 
it take place; but since we are 
come to the church, the bride shall 


32 


ROBIN HOOD. 


choose whom she will have.” 
Then Robin Hood put his horn 
to his mouth, and blew it; when 
straight, twice twelve men with 
their bows, were seen in the 
church-yard path, and came in at 
the porch. The first man was 
Allen -a- Dale, to give Robin 
Hood his bow. Robin Hood 
now went up to the fair maid, and 
said, “Now, my love, you are free ; 
tell me whom you will have for 
your spouse; will you have this 
weak and lame old knight, or will 



ROBIN HOOD. 


33 


you have one of the bold young 
men you now see in front of you ?” 
“ Ah,” said the young maid, and 
she cast her eyes on the ground 
as she spoke, “young Allen-a- 
Dale has been fond of me for 
more than six long years, and he 
is the man I would choose.” 
“ Then,” said Robin Hood, “ we 
will not leave this place till you 
and Allen are made one.” “ That 
shall not be,” said the priest ; “ it is 
the law of the land to ask them 
three times in the church ; a thing 



34 


ROBIN HOOD. 


of this kind can not be done in 
haste.” “ That we will try,” said 
Robin Hood ; and then he took 
off the priest’s gown, and put it on 
Little John. “ In truth,” said 
Robin Hood, “ you make a grave 
priest.” When Little John took 
the book in his hand it made the 
folks laugh ; and he thought best 
to ask them six times in the church 
lest three times should not do. 
Robin Hood gave the maid to 
Allen-a-Dale ; the priest slunk out 
of the church, and then the old 



ROBIN HOOD. 


35 


knight, too, crept off, as well as he 
could. All the guests had a good 
feast on two fat bucks in the 
wood, and from this day Allen- 
a-Dale was a friend to Robin 
Hood, to the end of his life. 

In the time of Robin Hood, the 
priests had to do just what the 
Pope of Rome told them, and 
some of them had to go to the 
wars. Robin Hood’s home was 
in the see of the priest of Hereford. 
Now Robin could not bear the 
priests, for one of them, you know, 


.36 


ROBIN HOOD. 


had got from him all his uncles 
land, and that not by fair means ; 
and since Robin Hood had been 
so bold as to play him a trick, 
when he let Allan-a-Dale take the 
fair maid for his wife, the priest of 
Hereford could not bear him ; and 
then too, he did not think that 
such a thief should live in his see. 
So the priest made more than one 
trip to the wood where Robin 
was, to get hold of him, that he 
might have him hung. One time 
when Robin took a walk, w r ith no 



ROBIN HOOD. 


37 


one with him, he heard the sound 
of the hoofs of more than one 
horse ; he gave a look round and 
saw his old foe, the priest of Her- 
eford, with six men. The priest 
was quite close to Robin Hood, 
when Robin gave a look round 
and saw him, so he had to take to 
his heels or he would have been 
caught. As Robin ran through 
the wood, he by chance came up 
to a cot where an old dame had 
her home, with no one with her, 
so he ran in, to beg her to save 



38 


ROBIN HOOD. 


his life. “ Who are you ?” said 
the old dame, “ and what can I do 
for you ?” “ My name, said he, 

“ is Robin Hood, and there 
comes the priest of Hereford, 
with all his men, who would like 
to have me hung.” “ If thou 
be Robin Hood,” said the old 
dame, “ as I think thou art, I would 
as soon lose my own life, as not 
do all I could to save thee. More 
than once have Little John and 
thou done kind deeds to me, and 
brought me deer’s meat ; and less 



ROBIN HOOD. 


39 


than ten days since thou gave me 
a pair of new shoes, and this green 
skirt. “ Then,” said Robin Hood, 
“ give me thy green skirt, and thy 
close cap, and put in my hands 
the things thou hast to spin with, 
and do thou take my red cloak 
and my bow.” As soon as they 
had made this change, Robin 
Hood left the house and went to 
the place where all his men were 
to be found. He gave a look round 
more than four score times, for the 
priest, who had no thoughts that 


40 


ROBIN HOOD. 


he should find him in such a 
dress. One of the thieves, who 
was full of spite, as Robin Hood 
came near them, cried out, “ A 
witch, a witch ! I will have a shot 
at her.” “ Hold thy hand,” said 
Robin Hood, “ and shoot not thy 
shafts so keen, for I am Robin 
Hood.” Then he went up to 
Little John, and said, “ Come, 
kill a good fat deer, for the priest 
of Hereford is to dine with me 
to-day. While these things came 
to pass, the priest came to the 



ROBIN HOOD. 


41 


old dame’s house, and when he 
saw a man, as he thought, with 
a red cloak on, and a bow in his 
hand, he shook his> head and said, 
“ I fear you are of Robin Hood’s 
gang ; if you have not a mind to 
be hung by the neck till you are 
dead, show me where that wretqji 
is.” This the old dame said she 
would do. “ Go with me,” said 
she to the priest, “ and I think I 
can bring you to the man you 
want.” The priest then put her 
on a milk white steed, while he 

4* 



42 


RODIN HOOD. 


rode on a dark gray, and for joy 
hat he should get Robin Hood, 
he did not cease to laugh all the 
way they went. 4 But as they rode 
on through the wood, the priest 
saw five score brave men, with 
bows in their hands, drawn up in 
rows of ten each, at the foot of a 
large tree. “ Oh, who are these,” 
said the priest, “ that have come 
to the wood to shoot ?” “ Why,” 
says the old dame, “ I think it is 
a man they call Robin Hood.” 
“ Why, who art thou ?” said the 



ROBIN HOOD. 


43 


priest ; “ for to tell the truth, I took 
thee for Robin Hood.” “ Oh, 
my lord,” said she, “ I am but an 
old dame.” By_ this time Robin 
Hood and his men came up to 
the priest. Robin Hood took 
him by the hand and said, “My 
lord, you must dine with me to 
day, in this gay, green wood. I 
can not feast you like a priest, but 
I can give you deer, ale and wine, 
and I hope it will please you.” 
When the meal was at an end, 
Robin Flood told the band to 


44 


ROBIN HOOD. 


strike up, and he made the priest 
dance a jig in his boots, and the 
priest had to do ’so. The day 
was now far spent, and the priest 
thought he might now beg leave 
to go home. “ I have had a good 
meal,” said he to Robin Hood, 
“ and I ought to pay for it ; tell me 
how much.” “ Lend me your 
purse, my lord,” said Little John, 
“ and I will make it right for you.” 
He then spread out the priest’s 
cloak on the ground, and took out 
his bag, and from it he took out 



ROBIN HOOD. 


45 


a great sum of gold. “ Now,” 
said Robin Hood, “ we thank 
you, that you have been our guest, 
and to show you that we have no 
mind to be rude, we will see you 
part of the way home.” They 
then led the priest and his men 
quite through the wood, till they 
brought him to the high road ; 
then Robin Hood’s gang gave 
three cheers ; and told him to bear 
in mind, that though, when he 
came, he meant to hang them all, 
they had done him no harm. 



46 


ROBIN HOOD. 


One bright day in June, when 
the leaves were green, and all 
things in the wood were fresh and 
gay, Robin Hood and his men all 
felt full of play. Some would leap, 
some would run, some shot at a 
mark, and some had mock fights 
on the green. Robin Hood was 
full of pride, and said, “ Now my 
good men, do you think there is 
a man in the world, that could 
fight, or use a staff with me, or 
kill a doe or a buck so sure as 
I?” While Robin Hood spoke 



ROBIN HOOD. 


47 


thus, Red Will came out from 
the rest. Ned Will was some 
kind of kin to Robin Hood, and 
thought he had as good a right to 
lead the gang as Robin had 
And then he was full of spite ; it 
was he who would have let fly 
a shaft at Robin Hood, when he 
saw him in the dress of the old 
dame. “ If you wish to meet with 
your match,” said Red Will, “ I 
can tell you where you can find 
him.” Then Red Will told 
Robin Hood of a man that dwelt 


48 


ROBIN HOOD. 


in a house of monks, that had 
been built with the gold that 
Robin’s uncle’s land had been 
sold for. This may have been 
why Red Will chose to speak of 
him to Robin. “ I had as soon 
you had told me to go to the place 
where they hang men,” said Robin 
Hood. “ I do not doubt that,” 
said Red Will, “but there is a 
monk in that house, that can draw 
a strong bow as well as you can ; 
he can use a staff too, and will 
beat you and all your men, set 



ROBIN HOOD. 49 

them in a row.” Robin Hood 
had a bold heart, and could not 
rest till he had seen this monk ; so 
he slung his bow on his back, and 
took his staff in his hand, and off 
he went to the dale where this 
house was. He had not gone 
far, when he saw a tall, strong 
monk, who stood by the bank of a 
stream, and as soon as Robin 
Hood saw him, he thought this 
must be the man. Robin Hood 
got off his horse and tied him to a 
thorn. “Take me on thy back, 

5 


50 


ROBIN HOOD. 


through this stream, thou strong 
monk,” said he, “ or thou hast not 
an hour more to live.” The 
monk did not say a word, but 
bent down and took Robin on his 
back. The stream was deep, and 
the way was long and hard, and 
these two men did not say one 
word till they got safe through it. 
Robin then gave a light leap off the 
friar’s back and made as though 
he would walk off. “ Stop,” said 
the monk, “ take me on thy back, 
through this stream, young man, 



ROBIN HOOD. 


51 


or it will breed thee pain.” Rob- 
in took the monk on his back, and 
not a word was said till they got 
safe to the side where Robin had 
first seen the monk. The monk 
gave a light leap from Robin’s 
back while Robin said to him 
once more, “ Take me on thy 
back through the stream, thou 
strong monk, or it shall breed 
thee pain.” The friar once more 
took Robin on his back, but this 
time he did not take him safe to the 
bank, for when he had got to the 


52 


ROBIN HOOD. 


midst of the stream, he let him 
slip off his back. “ And now my 
fine young man,” said he, “ will 
you think it best to sink or swim ?” 
Robin swam to the shore, and 
when the monk was come to the 
same place, Robin said to him, “ I 
see by this that thou art m) 
match.” Robin then had a sham 
fight with him, to see who had 
the most strength ; then they took 
their bows to see who could shoot 
the best; but in all these things, 
Robin could not beat the monk, 



ROBIN HOOD. 53 

and the monk could not beat 
Robin. “ I wish from my soul, 
said Robin, “ you would quit this 
dull life, and come and be one of 
us ; we range the wood, gay and 
free, and are as full of joy as the 
day is long.” “ I wish from my 
soul,” said the monk, “ thou 
wouldst leave thy wild and bad 
life, and come and live in our 
house ; thy thefts will bring thee 
to a bad end, but I shall live out 
my days in peace and joy.” Rob- 
in could not make the monk think 

5 * 


54 


ROBIN HOOD. 


as he did, and the monk could 
not change Robin’s mind, so they 
shook hands and each w°nt his 
own way. Robin Hood knew 
full well that the law did not let 
men lead the life he led, and that 
if he were once caught, it would 
go hard with him. Pie had now 
been in this way for some years, 
and he felt a wish that he could 
change his way of life for a home 
full of peace in the town where he 
was born. While he had thoughts 
of this sort, he one time took a 



ROBIN HOOD. 


55 


rich prize, and then he made up his 
mind that he would, give a gift to 
the Queen. The name of the 
Queen was Eleanor ; she was the 
mother of King Richard the First, 
and as he was fond of her, there 
were some things done in his reign 
which would not have been done, 
but for her. Queen Eleanor was 
quite glad to get Robin Hood’s 
gift, and she said in her heart, 
“ If I live one year to an end, I 
will be a friend to thee and all thy 
men.” In a short time, King 


56 


ROBIN HOOD. 


Richard made a grand match in 
his court of all the men who could 
shoot, both of his guards, and of 
all those who had been to the 
wars with him. Queen Eleanor 
thought this a good time to do 
what she had in her mind, so she 
sent for the page she was most 
fond of, and told him what he was 
to do. The page set out straight 
to the wood where Robin Hood 
had his home, and when he came 
to Robin Hood, he said, “ Queen 
Eleanor greets you well ; she bids 


BO BIN HOOD. 


57 


you post to London, where there 
is to be a match at the cross-bow, 
and she makes choice of you and 
your men, to shoot on her side.” 
On the day of this great match, 
the King’s men, who, it was 
thought, could shoot the best of all 
the men in the land, took their 
stand on one side. In a short 
time, the Qqeen’s men came in, 
and took their stand on her side. 
Their dress was not like that of 
the rest of the men, and no man 
in the court knew them. King 



58 


ROBIN HOOD. 


Richard then said what the prize 
was, that those who won should 
have, and all the lords of the court 
made their bets on the side they 
thought would win. The bets 
were three to one for the King’s 
men. “ Is there no knight of the 
court,” said the Queen, “ who will 
dare to stake their gold on my 
side? Come here to me, Sir Lee, 
thou art a knight of high birch.” 
Sir Lee was so rude as to beg 
the Queen not to put him to such 
a test. “ Come here to me, thou 



ROBIN HOOD. 59 

priest of Hereford,” said Queen 
Eleanor, “for thou art a great 
priest.” Now this priest was 
Robin Hood’s old foe. “ By all 
that I hold dear,” said the priest, 
“ I will not bet two pence.” “ If 
thou wilt not bet on the Queen’s 
side,” said Robin Hood, “what 
wilt thou bet on th6 King’s?” 
“On the King’s side,” said the 
priest, “ I will bet all the gold in 
my purse.” “Throw thy purse 
on the ground,” said Robin Hood, 
“ and let us see what is in it.” It 



60 


ROBIN HOOD. 


was five score pounds. Robin 
Hood took from his side a bag of 
the same* worth, and threw it on 
the green When it came near 
the time for the men to shoot, the 
Queen fell on her knees at the feet 
of the King her son. “ A boon, 
a boon,” said she ; “ I must ask a 
boon of thee, which I pray thee to 
grant, now, while they have not 
yet made the first shot.” “ What 
is it?” said the King. “It is,” 
said the Queen, “ that you will not 
let those that are on my side vex 


ROBIN HOOD. 


61 


you, and that they shall be free to 
stay in our court all the days of 
the match, and shall then have 
twelve days to leave the court and 
go where they like.” This the 
King said they might do. When 
those who kept the course went 
to mark the spot from which they 
should shoot at the butt, the man 
who led the King’s men cried out, 
(for he knew well how to boast,) 
“ Make no mark for us ; we will 
shoot at the sun and the moon.” 
But he was quite wrong, for 



62 


ROBIN HOOD. 


Robin Hood and his men cleft 
with their shafts all the wands 
and sticks that were set up, and 
won all the gold. Says the priest 
and his gang, “ I know full well 
now, who those men are ; they are 
Robin Hood and his gang.” 
The King said, “ If I had known 
that, the Queen could not have 
got me to grant them leave to go ; 
but I can not break my word.” 
When he had said this, he told 
his men to set out a great feast 
for Robin Hood and his men, and 


ROBIN HOOD. 


63 


then sent them off in high glee. 
The King from time to time 
thought of what he had seen of 
Robin Hood and his men. He 
had heard more than one good 
deed told of them, and their gay 
wit, and their skill could not fail 
to please him ; and then he, too, 
was as fond of the bow as they 
were. “ If I could but make these 
men serve me,” said he, “what a 
pride they would be to my court.” 
The King at last hit on a plan by 
which he might see Robin Hood 



64 ROBIN HOOD. 

once more. He sent for twelve 
lords of the court, and told his 
plan to them ; and then he and 
his lords all put on the clothes of 
monks, and off they rode to the 
wood where Robin Hood dwelt. 
Robin Hood saw them when 
they were still a great way off, and 
made up his mind to rob them. 
The King was more tall than the 
rest by a head, and Robin thought 
he must be the chief of the monks ; 
so he took the King’s horse by the 
rein, and said, “ Priest, I bid you 



ROBIN HOOD. 65 

stand ; it was a priest that first took 
my land, and took all the joy out 
of my life, and I have sworn to 
spare none of the tribe.” “ But 
we are sent by the King,” said 
Richard. Robin Hood then let 
go the rein and said, “God save 
the King and put to shame all his 
foes.” “ Then he will put thee to 
shame,” said Richard, “for thou 
art a thief, false to the laws, and 
false to thy King.” “ If you were 
not sent by him,” said Robin 
“ I should say, you lie ; for in all 



66 


ROBIN HOOD. 


my life I have not yet hurt a man 
that was just and true. I hurt 
none but those who live by the hard 
work of the poor ; I do no harm 
to the man who tills the ground, 
I take care of the good dames and 
the boys and girls ; and the poor 
for a score of miles round would 
be worse off, were it not for me.” 
Robin Hood then told the monks 
to come and dine with him. “ I 
would not treat you so,” said he, 
“ if you were not the King’s men ; 
yet, for the King sake, if you had 



ROBIN HOOD. 67 

as much gold as I could count, I 
would not take from you two 
pence.” Then Robin Hood put 
his horn to his mouth, and six 
score of his men came up, all in a 
row. The King thought, “This 
is a fine sight ; these men of Rob- 
in Hood’s, mind their chief with 
more speed than my men mind 
me.” When the meal was at an 
end, Jthe King said to Robin, 
“What would you give, my fine 
young man, if I could get the 
King to think no more of your 


68 


ROBIN HOOD. 


thefts, and treat you as if you had 
not led such a life? Would you 
be one of his men, and make up 
your mind to serve him well in all 
things?” This was just what Rob- 
in would like more than all else in 
the world. It was the wish that 
had been in . his thoughts night 
and day ; it was with the hope of 
this that he had sent the gift to 
the Queen. “My friend,”, said 
Robin, “ I would be glad to give 
up the wild life that I lead ; I did 
not like it, from the first. Some 


ROBIN HOOD. 


69 


men may praise my bold deeds 
and the good acts I do, but I hate 
my way of life : King Richard is 
a brave Prince, and knows well 
how to fight ; and if he would but 
think no more of the past, and be 
kind to me now, he would have 
cause to be glad of it, for he would 
find me more true, and more full 
of love to him, than all the rest of 
his men.” “ I am King Richard,” 
said the chief monk, and when he 
had said this, Robin, and all his 
men, fell down on their knees in 



70 


ROBIN HOOD. 


front of him. “ Stand up, my 
brave men,” said the King ; “ you 
have been thieves, and you ought 
not to have been such ; but you 
are brave men and you say that 
you wish .to do well. The man 
who cares most for his gold of all 
in the land, should not be made to 
lose it by force, but by kind means 
should be got to spend it as he 
ought to do. You have the skill 
to serve me well if you will. I 
will think no more of what you 
have done up to this time ; not one 


ROBIN HOOD. 


71 


of you shall bear the blame of 
what is past; but take care that 
from this time forth your acts are 
such as to cause me no grief for 
the kind way in which I now treat 
you.” When this speech was at an 
end, Robin Hood and his- men rose 
from their knees, and gave three 
loud cheers for their good King ; 
and from that time forth, there 
were none in all the land more 
true and full of love to the King, 
than Robin Hood and his men. 




HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


There once dwelt in a town, the 
name of which I do not know, a 
man who sold wood; he had a 
wife, and more than six boys ; the 
one who was born first was now 


72 




HOP O' 


MY THUMB 




\ 


HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


73 


no more than ten years old, and 
the one who was born last, was 
not much more than six. It was 
an odd thing, to be sure, that they 
should have had such a lot of 
boys in so short a time; but the 
truth is, his wife more than once 
brought him two at a time. This 
made him quite poor, for not one 
of these boys was of an age to 
earn his own bread, and what was 
still worse, the one who was born 
last, was much too small for his 
age, and sat still for hours and 



74 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


hours and did not speak one 
word. Now this, in truth, was a 
mark of his good sense, but it 
made his father and mother think 
that he had not much sense, and 
they thought that at last he would 
turn out quite a fool. This boy 
was of the least size that has been 
seen in all the world, for when he 
was born he was just the size of 
a man’s thumb, which made them 
give him the name of Hop-o’-my- 
Thumb. The poor child was the 
drudge of the whole house, and it 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


75 


was he who all the time bore the 
blame of all the things that went 
wrong in the house. For all this 
Hop-o’-my-Thumb had far more 
skill than all the rest of the boys, 
and though he did not speak 
much, he heard and knew a great 
deal more than the folks thought 
he did. It came to pass, just at 
this time, that for want of rain, 
the fields had grown but half 
as much rye and oats as they 
ought to have grown, so that 
the man could not give his wife 



76 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


and boys the food they had had till 
then, which was rye bread or bread 
made of oats. This sad state of 
things gave the father and mother 
great grief, and they shed more 
tears for this than for all the rest 
of the things that had come to 
pass in their whole lives ; they 
thought that as they could find no 
way to feed their boys, they must 
some how get rid of them. 

One night, when the boys were 
gone to bed, as the man who 
sold wood sat with his wife, by 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


77 


the fire, which was made of a few 
sticks, to get warm, he gave a 
deep sigh, and said, “ Y ou see, 
my dear, we can no more feed our 
boys, and to have them die for 
want of food in my sight, is what 
I could not bear. The best way 
will be, when next we go to the 
wood, to take them with us, and 
leave them where it is thick and 
dark, so that they can not find 
their way back.” “ Ah, my dear 
spouse,” cried the poor wife, 
“ you can not, no you can not be 



78 


HOP- O'-MT-THTJMB. 


the death of your own boys.” 
The man in vain told his wife 
how poor they were. The wife 
said that this was true to be sure, 
but if she was poor, she was 
still their mother, and then she 
cried as if her heart would break. 
At last she thought how sad 
it would be, to see them starve 
to death in her sight, so she said 
she would do what her spouse 
nad said. Hop-o’-my-Thumb all 
this time had not been to sleep ; 
and when he heard the sad talk 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


79 


of his father, he got out of the bed 
where he slept, and crept on the 
floor, to the foot of his father’s bed, 
to hear all that was said. When 
he found that his father and mother 
had no more to say, he went back 
to bed and lay still and thought 
of what he should do the next day. 
He got out of bed when it was 
light, and went to the bank of a 
stream a short way from the house 
to fill a bag with small white 
stones. This bag he hid in his 
clothes, and then went back home. 



80 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


When the sun was up they all set 
out, as their father and mother 
had made up their minds to do, 
and Hop-o’-my-Thumb did not 
say a word of what he had heard to 
the rest of the boys. They came 
to a wood that was so thick and 
dark that they could not see more 
than a few yards on each side. 
The man set to work to cut down 
wood, and the boys set to work 
to pick up all the twigs they saw, 
and lay them in heaps. When 
the father and mother saw that 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


81 


the young ones were all hard at 
work, they went off, and got to a 
by path, where they soon lost 
sight of the wood. In a short 
time the boys found out that their 
father and mother were not with 
them, and then they set up as loud 
a cry as they could. Hop-o’-my- 
Thumb let them cry on, for he 
knew full well how to take them 
safe home, as he had been so wise 
as to drop the white stones he had 
in his bag, here and there, all the 
way he had come. He did but 



82 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 

say to them, “Do not mind it, my 
lads ; father and mother have left 
us here with no one with us ; do 
but take care to go the way I go, 
and I will lead you safe back to 
our home.” When they heard 
this they cried no more, and he soon 
led them to their father’s house. 
At first they had not the heart to 
go in, but stood at the door to 
hear what their father and mother 
said. Just as the man and his wife 
left their boys in the wood and 
came home, a rich man who lived 



HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


83 


in the town, sent to pay them two 
pounds, which had been due to 
them so long for work they had 
done for him, that they thought 
they need have no hope that he 
would pay them at all. These 
two pounds made them full of 
joy, for if this man had not 
paid them just then, they would 
not have had a thing to eat. 
The man at once sent his wife 
out to buy some meat, and as it 
was a long time since she had 
made a good meal, she bought as 



84 


HO P-0' -MY- THUMB . 


much meat as would have done for 
six or eight men. The truth was, it 
did not come to her mind that her 
boys were not at home ; but as 
soon as she and her spouse had 
made a good meal, she cried out, 
“ Oh, where are our boys ? how 
they would feast on what we have 
left ! it was all your fault, Dick ! I 
told you a score of times that we 
should rue the hour when we left 
them to starve in the wood ! Oh 
woe is me ! it may be that some 
fierce wild beast has made a meal 


HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


85 


of them. Oh, Dick, Dick, I told 
you how it would be!” At last 
the man grew quite in a rage with 
his wife, who said more than a 
score of times that what he had 
done would bring him to grief, 
and he said at last that he would 
let her feel the weight of his stick 
if she did not hold her tongue. 
Now the truth was, the good man 
felt quite as full of grief as his wife, 
for what had been done, but it did 
not please him to have her scold. 

The poor wife did not cease to shed 

8 



86 


HOP- O'-M Y-THUMB. 


tears. “ Ah, woe is me, woe is me,” 
said she a score of times, “ what has 
been the fate of my dear boys?” 
and once she said this so loud that 
the boys, who were at the door, 
cried out, all at once, “Irlere we 
are, mother, here we are!” She 
flew like a flash of light to let 
them in, and gave them, each and 
all, a kiss. “ How glad I am to 
see you, you dear rogues,” said 
he ; “ are you not half dead for 
want of food and rest?” “Ah, 
poor dear Bob ! why, thou art dirt 



HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


87 


from head to foot, my child ! Come 
here and let me wash thy face.” 
Bob was the next in age to Hop- 
o’-my-Thumb, and as he had red 
hair, like his mother, he had been 
from the day of his birth more 
dear to her than all the rest. 
The boys sat down to dine, and 
made a good meal. The man and 
his wife were full of joy to have 
their boys once more with them, 
and their joy for this did not 
come to an end till all their gold was 
spent ; but then thye found that 


88 


HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


they were quite as ill off as they 
had been. So they now and then 
thought that they would leave 
them in the wood once more, and 
that the young ones might not 
come back this time, they said they 
would take them a great way off. 
In their talks of this thing they were 
as sly as they could be, but they 
were not so sly but that Hop-o’- 
my-Thumb found means to hear all 
they both said ; but it did not cause 
him much grief, for he thought it 
would not be a hard thing for him 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


89 


- r* 

to do just the same as he had done 

the first time. But though he got 

up while it was not yet light the 

next day, to go to the bank of the 

stream to get the white stones, a 

thing that he had not thought of 

kept him at home, for he found 

that the door was made fast with a 

great bolt, up at the top where he 

could not reach it. Hop-o’-my- 

Thunb was now quite at a loss 

what to do ; but when it was 

light, his mother gave each of the 

boys a piece of bread to eat, that 
J 8 * 1 



90 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


they might be strong for their 
walk, and then it came to his head 
that he could make his share do 
as well as the small white stones ; 
for he meant to drop crumbs of it 
all the way as they went. So he 
did not eat his piece, but hid it in 
his coat. In a short time they 
all set out, and their father and 
mother led them to a thick part of 
the wood. Then they went off as 
they had done the first time. All 
this did not grieve Hop-o’-my- 
Thumb at all, for he felt quite 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


91 


sure that he knew how to get 
back, by means of the crumbs that 
he had let fall by the way; but 
when he came to look, he found 
that the birds had been so much in 
want of food as to eat them all up. 
The poor boys were now in a sad 
plight, for the more they went on, 
the more they found it hard to get 
out of the wood. At last, night 
came on, and the noise of the 
wind in the trees was so loud, that 
all the time they took it for the 
howl of wolves. Then there came 



92 


HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


on a hard rain, which made them 
wet, quite to the skin, and made 
the ground so wet that they got 
mud on them, from head to foot ; 
All that night and all the next 
day they were in the woods. 
When it grew night once more, 
Hop-o’-my-Thumb went up to 
the top of a tree, to see if he 
could not see some hope of help. 
He saw a small light, like that of 
a lamp, but it was far off, and 
quite out of the wood. He then 
came down from the tree, to try to 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


93 


find his way to it, but he could not 
see it when he was on the ground. 
They tried to get to the place from 
which the light came, and at last 
they got to the end of the wood, 
* and caught sight of it once more. 
They now went on with more 
speed ; but each time that they came 
to where the land was low, they 
lost sight of the' light. At last 
they came to the house it was in. 
They gave a soft tap at the door, 
and there came to it a dame with a 
sweet face, who said, “ What 


94 


HOP- O’-M 7- THUMB. 


brings you here, my boys?” Hop- 
o’-my-Thumb told her that they 
were poor boys, who had lost 
their way in the wood, and they 
would think it kind of her to give 
them a bed till the morn. When 
the dame saw that they were good 
boys and not rude, she shed tears 
as she said, “ Ah, my poor boys, 
you do not know what a place 
you have come to. This is the 
house of an ogre, who eats up 
small boys and girls.” “ Ah, 
ma’am,” said Hop-o’-my-Thumb, 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


95 


who shook from head to foot, as 
well as the rest of the boys, “ what 
shall we do? If we go back to the 
wood, we are sure that we shall 
be torn to bits by the wolves, and 
it would be no worse for us to 
have your spouse eat us; and it 
may be that when he sees us he 
will be so kind to us as to spare 
our lives.” The ogre’s wife thought 
she might, by some means, hide 
them till the next day, so she let 
them go in and get warm by a 
good fire, in front of which was a 


96 


HOP- O’-MY-TH VMB. 


whole sheep hung to roast for the 
ogre to eat when he came home. 
When they had stood a short 
time by the fire, there was heard a 
loud knock at the door. This was 
the ogre. His wife, in great haste, 
put the boys at the back part of 
the bed, on the floor, and told 
them to lie still ; and then she let 
her spouse in. The ogre then 
said he would like to have his 
food, and some wine brought 
up from down stairs, and then 
he sat down near the fire. 


HOP- O’-MY-THUMB. 


97 


The sheep was still all red with 
blood, but that was the way he 
chose to have it. In a short time 
the ogre gave a snuff - to his right 
and left, and said he could smell 
child’s flesh. “ It must be this 
calf which you told me to kill,” 
said his wife. “ I smell child’s flesh, 
I tell thee once more,” cried the 
ogre, and he gave a good look in 
all parts of the room ; “ I smell 
child’s flesh ; there is some one 
here that I do not know of.” 
As soon as he had said these 


98 


HOF -O'- MY-THUMB. 


words, he rose from his chair, and 
went up to the bed. “ Ah, dame,’ 
said he, “ you thought to cheat me, 
did you ! Wretch, thou art old, and 
as tough as an old goose, or else 
I would eat thee up too. But 
come, come, this is quite a piece of 
good luck ; for the brats will 
make a nice dish for three ogres, 
who are my best friends, and who 
are to dine with me in a day or 
two.” He then drew them out, 
one by one, from their place at the 
back of the bed. The poor boys 


HOP-O’-MY-THTJHB. 


99 


fell down on their knees at his feet, 
to beg him, as well as they could 
speak, to spare their lives. But 
the ogre had no mind to spare 
their lives ; all he thought of was, 
how sweet and nice their flesh 
would be; so he told- his wife 
they would make a nice dish, if 
she would serve them up with 
some good sauce. He then got 
a large knife and made it sharp on 
a long stone that he held in his 
left hand, and when he had done 
this, he came close up to the bed. 


100 


HOP - O’ -MY- THUMB. 


The ogre took up one of the boys, 
and held up the knife to cut him 
to bits ; but his wife said to him, 
“ What in the world makes you 
take so much pains to kill them to- 
night ? Will there not be time by 
day-light?” “Hold your tongue, 
said the ogre, “ it will make them 
taste more like game, if I kill them 
to night and then keep them some 
time.” “ But,” said his wife, “ you 
have now so much meat in the 
house; here is a calf, two sheep, 
and half a pig.” “ True,” said 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


101 


the ogre, “ so give them all a good 
meal, that they may not get lean, 
and then send them to bed.” It 
made the good dame quite glad to 
hear him say this. She gave 
them as much meat and bread 
and cheese and cake as would 
have done for nine or ten men, 
but the poor boys were so full of 
fear, that they could not eat a bit. 
The ogre, in great joy that he could 
give his friends such a nice dish, 
drank much more than was his 
wont, and he soon had to gfo to 


102 


H OP- O' -MY- THUMB 




bed. The ogre had some girls, who 
were all quite young, like Hop-o’- 
my-Thumb and the rest of the 
boys. These young girls had fair 
skins, for they fed on raw meat 
like their father, but they had 
small grey eyes, quite round, and 
sunk in their heads ; they each had 
a long nose like a hook, and rows 
of long sharp teeth. They were 
too young as yet to do much 
harm, but it was not hard to see 
that if they grew to be as old as 
their father, they would grow quite 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


103 


as bad as he was ; for young as 
they were it was a great joy to 
them to bite young boys and girls, 
and suck their blood. These 
girls had been put in one bed, 
and each one had a crown of gold 
on her head. There was one 
more bed of the same size in the 
room, and in this the ogre’s wife 
put Hop-o’-my-Thumb and the 
rest of the boys, and then went to 
bed with her spouse. Hop-o’-my 
Thumb soon saw that all the 
young girls had crowns of gold on 


104 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


their heads ; and he was in great 
fear that the ogre would wake in 
the night, and kill him and the rest 
of the boys while they slept. So 
he took the caps off the heads of 
the boys, and crept to the bed the 
girls were in; he then took off 
their crowns, and put the caps on 
their heads, in place of them ; next 
he put the crowns on the heads of 
the boys, and one on his own 
head, and then went back to bed. 
The ogre woke in the night and 
felt sad that he had let the boys 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


105 


live, so he sprang out of bed, and 
took his large knife in his hand. 
“ I think I will go to the young 
rogues,” said he, “ and do the job 
at once !” He made no noise, but 
went up to the bed the boys were 
in ; they all slept but Hop-o’-my 
Thumb. The ogre put his hand 
on their heads, one at a time. 
When he felt the crowns of gold 
he thought, “ Oh, oh, I had like to 
have made sad work of it. I 
think I drank too much wine last 
night.” He went next to the bed 


• 106 HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 

that his girls were in, and when 
he felt the caps, he said, “ Ah, here 
you are, my lads,” and so in a 
trice he cut the throats of all his 
girls. He then went back to bed. 
As soon as Hop-o’-my-Thumb 
heard him snore, he woke the 
boys, and told them to put on 
their clothes as quick as they could 
and go with him. They stole down 
to the yard, gave a jump from 
the wall to the road, and ran as 
fast as their legs could take them. 
When the ogre woke the next 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


107 


day, he said to his wife, “ My dear, 
go and dress the young rogues I 
saw last night.” The good dame 
did not dream he meant cook them. 
She thought he meant her to help 
them put their clothes on ; so she 
went up stairs, and the first thing 
she saw was all her girls who lay 
in their bed, with their throats cut. 
This sight made her fall to the 
ground in • a swoon. The ogre 
thought his wife was too long at 
the work he told her to do, so he 
went to help her ; but when he 


108 


HOP- O'-MY-THUMB. 


saw his girls with all their throats 
cut, it was as great a shock to 
him as it had been to his wife. 
“ Ah what have I done !” he cried, 
“ but these young boys shall pay 
for it. “ He first took the wash- 
bowl and threw all that was in it 
on his wife’s face, which soon 
made her come out of her swoon ; 

■ then he said to her, “ Bring me 
my seven league boots, -that I may 
go and catch those young snakes.” 
The ogre then put on these boots 
and set out with speed He went 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


109 


through a great part of the land, 
and at last came to the road where 
the poor boys were. They had 
now got quite near to their father’s 
house. They had seen the ogre 
a good while, as he strode from 
bank to bank of a stream, and 
from hill-top to hill-top, with great 
ease. At this sight, Hop-o’-my- 
Thumb made up his mind what 
was to be done, and as he saw a 
cave at the back of a large rock, 
he told the boys to go in there. 

He, too, then went in, but kept his 

10 


110 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


eye on the ogre, to see what he 
would do. The ogre was quite 
tired, so he sat down on the 
large rock at the back of which 
the poor boys were hid, and soon 
went to sleep. Just as soon as 
Hop-o’-my-Thumb saw this, he 
said to the boys, “ Keep up a 
good heart, my lads. You have 
but to steal off and get home, now 
that the ogre has gone to sleep, 
and leave me to do the best I can.” 
The boys were quite glad to do as 
he told them, and they soon came 


HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


Ill 


to their father’s house. Hop-o’- 
my-Thumb now crept up to the 
ogre ; he took off his seven league 
boots, and took great care not to 
wake him ; he then put the boots 
on his own legs ; for though the 
boots were large, they were fairies, 
and so could all at once grow 
small, so as to fit the leg of the 
man or boy who put them on. As 
soon as Hop-o’-my-Thumb had 
made sure of the ogre’s seven 
league boots, he thought he would 
go at once to the King’s house 


112 


HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


and send word to him that he 
would be glad to serve him. He 
thought he could bring word from 
the King to those of his men who 
were far off at the wars, and then 
would bring back news of the fight 
that they had with the foe. But 
when he had made a few strides 
with his boots he heard a voice say, 
“ Hop-o’-my-Thumb, do not go to 
the King’s house. The boots you 
took from the ogre while he slept, 
are two fairies, and I am one of 
them. We have seen the wise 



HOP-O’-MY-THUMB. 


113 


things that you have done, to save 
the boys who were with you from 
harm, and for that we will give 
you wealth. Break the shell of a 
nut that you will find in your coat 
sleeve, and you will find a small 
card in it which will tell you what 
to do.” Hop-o’-my-Thumb at 
once put his hand up his sleeve 
and there he found a nut. He 
broke it with his teeth, and in it he 
found a small card ; on the card 
were these words : 

4 4 Go straight to the Ogre’s door, 

10 * 



114 


HOP-O'-MY- THUMB. 


These words speak, and say no more — 

* Good dame, Ogre can not come 
Give great key to Hop-o'-my-Thumb.’ ” 


Hop-o’-my-Thumb now thought 
the best thing he could do would 
be to say the two last lines a score 
of times or more, so that he might 
be sure to think of them at the 
right time, and when he thought 
he knew them by heart, he made 
two or three of his great strides 
and soon got to the ogre’s door. 
He gave a loud knock, which soon 
brought the ogre’s wife down 



HOP- O' -MY- THUMB. 


115 


stairs ; but when she caught sight 
of Hop-o’-my-Thumb, she gave a 
start back, and made as though 
she would have shut the door in 
his face. Hop-o’-my-Thumb 
knew he had no time to lose, so he 
spoke as if he were in great haste. 
He said that the ogre had laid 
hold of him and the rest of the 
boys, and he meant to take them 
back to his house, but all at once 
the ogre saw a crowd of men 
who, he thought, were lords, and 
who rode on fine steeds. These 


116 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


men came up to him at full speed. 
He said that they were sent by 
the King, to ask the ogre to lend 
him a great sum in gold, to pay 
the men who had been to the wars. 
He then said that the lords were 
quite worn out with the long 
way that they had come, and the 
ogre told them he had some one 
with him who would not fail 
to do all that he was told to do. 
He said that the great lords gave 
the ogre their thanks, when they 
heard this, and in the name of the 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


117 


King they made him a duke ; on 
which the ogre took off his boots 
and drew them on the legs of 
Hop-o’-my-Thumb ; he then told 
him to go to his house ; and when 
he had got to his house, he was 
to say these words : 

Good dame, Ogre can not come ; 

Give great key to Hop-o ? -my-Thumb. 

The ogre’s wife saw the boots of 
her spouse, and she was quite 
proud to think that she would be 
the wife of a duke, and live at 
court ; so she ran to fetch the 



118 


nOP-O'-MT-TEUMB. 


great key and gave it to Hop-o’- 
my-Thumb, and told him where 
to find the chest of gold and gems. 
Hop-o’-my-Thumb took as much 
gold as he thought would buy his 
father and mother and the boys food 
and clothes for all their lives, and 
soon came home. His father 
and mother were glad to see him 
once more. As the great fame of 
his boots had been heard of at 
court by this time, the King sent 
for him, and gave him a great deal 
of work to do for the good of the 



HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


119 


state, so that he grew to be as rich 
a man as there was in the whole 
land. As for the ogre, he fell in 
his sleep, from the edge of the rock, 
and was so much hurt that he 
could not stir. Now more than 
one man went near the place where 
the ogre lay, but the ogre was so 
big that they could not so much as 
lift one of his legs, so they left him 
there, and at night a snake came 
out of a wood just by, and stung 
him so that he died in great pain. 
When Hop-o’-my-Thumb heard 


120 


HOP-O'-MY-THUMB. 


of the ogre’s death, he told the King 
all that his wife had done to save the 
boys. The King did not fail to 
ask him what he could do for 
her. Hop-o’ J my-Thumb said- he 
thought she would like to be made 
the wife of a duke. This was as 
soon done as said, and she came 
to court, and dwelt there in great 
joy for years, and she had all the 
vast wealth that the ogre had left. 
Hop-o’-my-Thumb grew each day 
more wise and brave, and the King 
made him a great lord. 


BLUE BEARD. 


There was, some time since, a 
man who had great wealth. He 
had a fine large house in town, 
one far from it near a wood, 
and one by the sea. His rooms 
were wide and high ; the seats of 
his chairs were made of rich silks, 
and he had more than one coach 
gilt with gold in a grand style. 
But this man had the bad luck to 


8 


BLUE BEARD. 


have a blue beard ; which made 
him such a fright, that none of the 
girls in the parts where he dwelt, 
would dare to go where he was. 
Now there dwelt near him a high 
born dame, who had two girls, so 
fair that it gave one joy to look at 
them. Blue Beard said he would 
like her to give him one of them 
for a wife, and left it to her to 
choose which of the two it should 
be. But each of the girls said 
more than once that she would 
not be the wife of Blue Beard, 



BLUE BEARD. 


9 


though he might ask her ten 
times ; yet, so as not to be rude, 
each of them said she could not 
have him as she was loath to keep 
her sister from the match, which 
would be such a good one for her. 
But the true state of the case was, 
that they did not think they would 
like to have a man with a blue 
beard, and then they had heard 
that he had had some wives, and 
no one could tell what kind of a 
death they had died. As Blue 
Beard felt a great wish to make 


10 


BLUE BEARD. 


them love him, he told the two 
girls and their mother, and some 
friends of theirs, who were then 
with them, that he would like 
them to go with him to one of his 
homes, near a wood. They all 
went and spent a whole week 
with him, and the hours flew by in 
balls and feasts ; and in the day- 
time they went to hunt and fish, 
and had gay sport. They did not 
take time to go to bed, but spent 
all the night in feasts and balls. In 
short, the time went by in so 



BLUE BEARD. 


11 


much joy, that one of the two 
girls at last thought that the beard 
of which she had had so much 
fear, was not so blue as it had 
been, and that the man who wore 
it knew quite well how to please, 
and no one had known him to do 
or say a rude thing. They had 
not long been at home when she 
told her mother that she had no 
more fear of him, and that she 
would be his wife ; and in a short 
time they were wed. When they 
had been wed some months, Blue 



BLUE BEARD. 


i2 

Beard told his wife that he should 
have to leave her for a few weeks, 
as he had some things to see to in 
his house by the sea. He told her 
to be sure to have all the joy she 
could, to ask all her friends to 
come and stay with her if she 
chose, and to treat them to all the 
good things in the house, that her 
time might pass as fast as could 
be till he came back. “ Here,” 
said he, “ are the keys of the two 
large safes. This is the key of 
the great box that has in it the 


BLUE BEARD. 


ia 


best plate, which we use for our 

guests ; this is the key of my 

strong box where I keep all my 

gold, and this is the key of the box 

where I keep all my rings and pins 

and gems of all sorts. Here too is 

a key to all the large rooms in the 

house, but this small key is the key 

of the small room at the end of the 

long, dark hall on the ground floor. 

I give you leave,” said he, “ to do 

what you like with all the rest of 

the keys and all the rest of the 

rooms but this small room ; in this, 
2 


/ 


14 


BLUE BEARD. 


my dear, you must not go ; you 
must not so much as put the key 
in the lock, for all the world. If 
you do not mind me in this one 
thing, you will meet with a sad fate, 
such as you do not dream of.” 
She said she would in all things 
try to please him, and would be 
sure not to do what he told her 
she must not ; and then Blue 
Beard gave her a kind kiss, sprang 
in his coach, and off he drove. 
When Blue Beard was gone, the 
friends of his wife did not wait for 


BLUE BEARD. 


15 


her to ask them, they had so great 
a wish to see all the rich and fine 
things, that were now hers ; for 
they knew that Blue Beard gave 
her all the time rich gifts ; none of 
them had been at her house when 
she was wed, for they had too 
great a fear of the blue beard of 
the groom. Just as soon as they 
came to the house they ran from 
room to room, up stairs and down 
stairs, and then from safe to safe 
to see all the fine plate, and each 
one that they came to they said 


16 


BLUE BEARD. 


there were more rich and fine 
things in it than in the one they 
had just left. At last they came 
to the great rooms of state on the 
first floor ; they did not know what 
to think when they saw the walls 
bright with paint and gold, the 
silk chairs with fringe of gold and 
the floor cloths so rich that they 
thought it a shame to tread on 
them. In each room they saw 
more than one large glass ; the 
frames of these last were of gold, 
and had rich work on* them, and 


BLUE BEARD. 


17 


in each glass they could see their 
whole forms from head to foot. 
In short, no home could be more 
full of rich and fine things than 
this, and they did not fail to wish, 
all of them, that they had as good 
luck as their friend. 

But all this time the bride did 
not join in their joy. She thought 
not of all the fine things they said 
to her ; all she thought was, that 
she would give the world to 
see what was in the small room 
where her spouse had told her 


18 


BLUE BEARD. 


she must not go. So great, in 
truth was her wish to do this, 
that she did not stop to think how 
rude it would be to leave her 
guests, but ran off down a pair of 
stairs at the back of the house, that 
led to this small room where she 
had been told not to go. She ran 
in such haste, that, to see her, one 
would have thought two or three 
times that she would have such a 
fall down the stairs as would break 
her neck. When she came to the 
door of the small room, she stood 


BLUE BEARD. 


19 


still a short time to think of what 
her spouse had said to her, and 
how he had told her that he 
would not fail to keep his word, 
and do her some great harm if she 
did not mind him. But she had 
so great a wish to know what was 
in the room that she made up her 
mind to go in, in spite of what 
might come to pass when she had 
done so. She then, with a hand 
that shook with fear, put the key in 
the lock, and the door straight flew 
back, though she did not push it. 


20 


BLUE BEARD. 


As the- blinds were shut, she at 
first could not see a thing ; but in 
a short time she saw that the floor 
was all wet with blood, and on it 
five girls of her own age lay in a 
heap, dead. These were all the 
wives that Blue Beard had had, 
and slain one by one ; at this sight 
she felt as though she should sink 
with fear, and the key of the room 
door, which she held in her hand, 
fell on the floor. In a short time, 
when her fright was not so great 
as at first, she tried to get back her 


BLUE BEARD. 21 

strength of mind ; she took up the 
key, put it in the lock, and made 
the door as fast as it had been 
when she came there. Then she 
made haste back to her own room, 
that she might have a short time 
to think ; she tried to get back the 
joy she had felt when she left her 
guests, but this she could not do, 
so great was her fright at what she 
had seen ; and she did not dare to 
go back to her friends with her 
pale face and her sad heart, lest 
they should ask her the cause of 


22 BLUE BEARD. 

her grief. As she found that the 
key of the small room had a stain 
of blood on it, which it got when 
it fell on the floor, she took a cloth 
to wipe it. She gave it two or 
three rubs to clean it, yet still the 
blood kept on, the same as at first ; 
the next thing she did was to wash 
it ; but the blood did not move at 
all; then she thought she would 
scour it with the dust of a brick 
and last of all with sand ; but in 
spite of all she could do the blood 
was still there ; for the key was a 


BLUE BEARD. 


23 


fairy who was Blue Beard’s friend, 
so that as fast as she got the blood 
off on the left hand side, it came 
out on the right ; then, when she 
got it off the right side, there it 
was on the left. 

That same day, just as it grew 
dark, Blue Beard came home. 
He told her that when he was 
but twelve miles from the house 
he met a man on a horse, who 
came with all the haste he could 
to tell him that they did not need 
him in his house by the sea, for 


24 


BLUE BEARD. 


the thing that he went there for, 
was now done as it should be. 
Then his wife said all the things 
she could think of to make him 
think she was wild with joy to 
find that he had come back so 
soon. The next day, the first 
thing he did was to ask her for the 
keys. She gave them to him, but 
as she was as pale as death, and 
shook with fear as she put them 
in his hand, it was not hard for 
him to guess what she had done. 
“ How is it,” said he, “ that the 



BLUE BEARD. 


25 


key of the small room at the end 
of the hall on the ground floor, is 
not here ?” “Is it not ?” said the 
wife, “ then I must have left it on 
the chair in my room, where they 
all were when you told me to 
bring them to you.” “ Be sure 
you give it me by and by,” said 
Blue Beard. She went to her 
room, and when there, went up 
and down nine or ten times, as if 
she were in search of the key ; 
but at last she had to give it to 
Blue Beard. 


26 


BLUE BEARD. 


He took it in his hand to look 
at it, then with a frown he said, 
“ How came this blood on the 
key ?” “ I am sure I do not know,” 
said his poor wife, and at the same 
time she grew as white as a sheet. 
“You do not know!” said Blue 
Beard, in a stern tone, “ but I 
know, full well. You have been 
in the small room on the ground 
floor. Well, ma’am, since you had 
such a great wish to go to that 
room, you shall be sure to take 
your place by the side of those you 


BLUE BEARD. 


27 


saw there. His wife, who was 
now half dead with fear, fell on her 
knees at his feet, to beg him to 
think no more of her fault, and to 
pray him to spare her life. All 
the time, as she knelt there, her 
face was so sad and sweet that if 
the man had not had a heart as 
hard as a stone, what she said 
would not have been in vain. But 
Blue Beard did not care for her sad 
looks ; all he said was, “ No, no, 
ma’am ; you shall die at once.” 
“ Ah, woe is me,” said the poor 


23 


BLUE BEARD. 


thing as she shook with fear, “ if 
I must die, give me, at least, a 
short time to kneel down and 
pray.” “ I will give you half an 
hour,” said Blue Beard in a harsh 
voice, “ and no more.” Then 
Blue Beard went out of the room. 
As soon as he left her she ran to 
call her sister, and told her, as well 
as she could for her sobs, that she 
had but half an hour to live. “ I 
pray you,” said she, “ dear sister 
Ann,” (this was her sister’s name,) 
“ run up to the top of the house 


BLUE BEARD. • 


29 


and see if my brothers are not in 
sight, for they said they would 
come to see me to-day ; artd if 
you see them, make a sign for them 
to ride on just as fast as they can.” 
Her sister straight did as she was 
told, and Blue Beard’s poor wife, 
who shook with fear so that she 
could scarce stand, cried out to 
her all the time, “ Anne, sister 
Anne, do you not see some one ?” 
Her sister said “ No, I see no one ; 
I see naught but the sun, which 
makes a dust, and the grass, which 


30 


BLUE BEARD. 


looks green.” The half hour was 
now at an end, and Blue Beard 
came back to his wife’s room. 
She stood on the stairs not far from 
the roof of the house, where her sis- 
ter stood to watch for her brothers. 
Blue Beard, with a great sword in 
his hand, gave a loud bawl, just 
as loud as he could, to his wife. 
“ Come down at once,” said he, 
“or I will fetch you.” “ Oh, give 
me just a short time more, I pray 
you,” said she, and she said in a 
low tone, so that Blue Beard 


BLUE BEARD. 


31 


should not hear, to her sister, 
“ Sister Anne, do you not see 
some one now ?” But her sister 
Anne said “ I see no one ; I see 
naught but the sun, which makes 
a dust, and the grass, which looks 
green.” Blue Beard gave one 
more great bawl, and said, “ Come 
down, I say, come straight down, 
or I shall come and fetch you.” 
“I will come, I will in truth come 
down in a short time,” said his 
poor wife with a sob. Then once 
more she cried out, “ Anne, sister 


32 


BLUE BEARD. 


Anne, do you not see some one 
now ?” “I see,” said her sister, “ a 
cloud of dust on the left hand side 
of the road, not far off.” “ Do 
you think it is my brothers ?” said 
the wife. “ Ah no, dear sister,” 
said she, as the cloud of dust 
drew near, “ it is but a flock of 
sheep with two men and a boy to 
drive them.” “ Will you come 
down ma’am ?” said Blue Beard, 
in a great rage. “ Oh, I pray you 
give me a short time more said 
she. and then she cried out for the 



BLUE BEARD. 


33 


last time, “ Sister Anne, Sister 
Anne, can it be that you see no 
one ?” “ I see, “ said her sister, 
“ two men, each on a fast horse, 
but they are still a great way off.” 
“ Thank God,” said the poor wife, 
“ they are my two brothers ; make 
them a sign to ride with all the 
speed they can.” 

Blue Beard now cried out so loud 
for her to come down, that his 
voice shook the whole house. His 
poor wife, with her hair loose, and 
all in tears, came down and fell on 


84 


BLUE BEARD. 


her knees to beg him to spare her 
life ; but he would not let her 
speak, and said, “ All this is of no 
use, for you shall die.” Then he 
took hold of her by the hair, and 
held up his sword to strike off her 
head. The poor thing now told 
him that all that she would ask, 
was, that he would give her time 
to say a few words ; she said she ' 
would like to kneel down and 
pray, and then he might do what 
he chose to her. “ No, no,” said 
Blue Beard. I will give you no 


BLUE BEARD. 


35 


more time you have had too much 
as it is.” Then he held up his 
sword once more ; but just as he 
did so, they heard a loud knock at 
the gates, which made Blue Beard 
wait and look out to see who it was. 
There now came through the gates 
two young men, with the dress 
on, which they wore when they 
went to the wars. Up the stairs 
they came, and ran to the room 
where Blue Beard and his wife 
were ; and when they saw Blue 
Beard with his sword in his hand, 


36 


BLUE BEARD . 


and their sister on the floor half 
dead with fear, they ran, with their 
swords in their hands, straight to 
him ; he, when he saw that they 
were his wife’s brothers, tried to 
run out of the room as fast as he 
could, but they were too quick for 
him : and when he had not yet 
got ten yards from the place whese 
he stood when they came in, they 
ran their swords through him and 
he fell down dead at their feet. 
The poor wife’s face was so pale, 
that at the first glance, one would 


BLUE BEARD. 


3? 


have thought her as dead as her 
spouse. At first she could not 
rise to kiss her brothers ; but she 
soon got back her strength ; and 
as Blue Beard had no .heirs, she 
found that all his great wealth was 
hers. A part of this she gave to 
her sister Anne, who was soon 
the wife of a young man who had 
long been fond of her. Some of 
her gold she spent for her two 
brothers, to get them on in the 
world, and they went back to the 
war in much more joy than they 


38 


BLUE BE ABE. 


had left it, and soon won great 
fame by their brave deeds. The 
rest she gave to a good young man, 
who soon made her his wife, and 
whose love made her think no 
more of Blue Beard, and of the 
way in which he would have put 
an end to her life, if her brothers 
had not come in time to save her. 




JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 






JACK 

AND 


THE BEAN STALK. 


There was once, in the days of 
King Alfred, a poor dame, whose 

39 


40 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


cot stood in a small, out of the 
way town, a great way from all the 
large towns of the land. The man 
who had made her his wife, had 
been dead some years, and she had 
but one child whose name was J ack, 
to whom she gave up her whole 
life. She could not bear to scold 
him for his faults, so that they grew 
more and more all the time, and at 
last Jack gave no heed to what she 
said. He would not work, he did 
not care to be good, and he sj >ent 
all the pence he could get and did 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 41 


not think of the time it took his 
mother to earn them. He had 
not a bad heart, but when he did 
a bad thing his mother could not 
bear to check him. In time, she 
sold all that she had ; there was 
scarce a thing left but a cow. The 
poor dame one day met Jack with 
tears in her eyes; her grief was 
great, and for the first time in her 
life, she could not help a few harsh 
words. She said, “ Oh you bad 
child ! by your bad course of life, 
you have at last brought me to beg 


42 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


or to be in debt. Bad, bad boy ! I 
have no pence to buy a bit of bread 
for one more day ; there is naught 
left for me now but to sell my poor 
cow ; it grieves me to part with 
her, it grieves me to the heart, but 
we must not starve.” For a short 
time Jack felt quite sad to think 
how bad he was, but it was soon 
past, and the next thing he did was 
to tease his mother to let him sell 
the cow at the next town. He said 
so much that she at last said that 
he might do so. As he went on 


JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK 43 


his way, he met a man who sold 
meat ; this man said to him, “ Why 
do you drive the cow from home?” 
Jack told him he meant to sell it. 
The man had some strange beans 
in his hat ; they did not look at all 
like the beans we see in our yards ; 
they were of bright hues, which 
made Jack think how much he 
would like to have some of them 
to play with. The man, who was 
quite shrewd, saw what Jack felt ; 
he knew what kind of a boy he 
had to deal with, and thought now 


44 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


was the time to make by it ; so he 
made up his mind not to let such 
a chance slip. He told him he 
would like to know the price of 
the cow, and at the same time told 
him he would give all the beans in 
his hat for her. The boy could 
not hide the joy he felt, at what he 
thought so great a sale, so he gave 
the man the cow for a few poor 
beans. Jack made the best of his 
way home, and when he had not 
yet got to the house, he gave a 
loud call to his mother, for he 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 45 

thought, when she heard what a 
great sale he had made, her heart 
would be full of joy. When she 
saw the beans and heard what 
Jack had done, she could not hide 
what she felt ; she gave the beans 
a kick in a rage, and they flew on 
all sides, here and there, in the 
house and out of the house ; some 
fell in the yard. As they had not 
a thing to eat, they both went 
straight to bed. Jack woke at 
dawn of day, and as he saw a 
strange sight when he went to 


46 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


look out, he ran down stairs to the 
yard to see what it was. He now 
found that some of the beans had 
roots, and had sprung up in a 
strange way, and the stalk of one 
wound round the next, so that they 
made a flight of steps, a good deal 
like a chain. He gave a look up, 
but could not see the top ; as far as 
he could guess, it was lost in the 
clouds ; he tried it ; found that it 
was firm, and that he could not 
shake it. He soon made up his 
mind that he would climb up to 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 47 


the top,. to see what would come 
to pass, and ran to tell his mother 
what he meant to do, for he had 
no doubt that she would feel as 
much joy as he did. She said he 
should not go ; said it would break 
her heart if he did ; tried to coax 
him, tried to make him share her 
fears, but all in vain. Jack set out 
to climb up the bean stalk. It took 
him some hours to do so, but at 
last he got to the top, quite worn 
out with the hard work. When 
his strength came back so that he 


48 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


could look round, he found that he 
was in a strange land. It was a 
wild land, not a tree, nor shrub, 
nor house, nor beast, nor man was 
in sight. There were some loose 
stones, and here and there some 
small heaps of earth. Jack sat 
down on a block of stone and 
thought of his mother; it made 
him full of grief now, to think that 
he would not mind her but would 
climb up the bean stalk in spite of 
what she had said : he thought now 
that he would die for want of food. 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALE. 49 

He got up and went on, in hopes 
that he should soon see a house, 
where he might eat and drink. 
In a short time he saw, a great 
way off, a fine young girl. As she 
drew near, he could not fail to see 
how fair and gay she was. She 
wore a rich dress, and had a small 
white wand in her hand, on the 
top of which was a swan of pure 
gold. This fair young girl came 
up to him, and with a sweet smile 
said, “ How did you get here ?” 
Jack spoke of the bean stalk, and 

5 


50 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


told her what hard work he had 
had to climb up it. The next 
thing she did was to ask him what 
he knew of his father. Jack said 
that his father must have met 
with some strange and sad fate, 
for if he tried to make his mother 
speak of his father, she would cry 
and sob like a child, and grow so 
pale that they thought she would 
faint, and then she would be sick 
for days ; but one thing he could 
not but see at such times, which 
was, that she took good care not 



JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 51 


to tell him what it was his wish to 
know. This made it seem as if 
there was some part of the life of 
his father, which must not be 
known. The young girl said, “ I 
will tell you the whole tale, your 
mother must not. But I will not 
do so till you give me your word 
that you will do just what I tell 
you ; I am a fairy, and if you fail 
to do what I say, you will lose your 
life.” Jack was in great fear at her 
threat, but he gave her his word 
that he would do just what she 


62 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


told him to ; and the Fairy then 
spoke thus : “Your father was a 
man of great wealth, and he had 
a good, kind heart. He was kind 
to the poor, and spent a great part 
of his wealth in things that would 
do them good. He made it a rule 
not to let a day pass, in which he 
had not done good to some one. 
On one day in each week he sent 
for those who had once been rich, 
and had grown poor, to come and 
dine with him. He ate with them 
and did all he could to make his 




JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 53 


guests feel at home. He did not 
ask the rich and great to come. 
The men and maids whose place it 
was to wait on them were full of joy 
at all times, and had a great love 
for your father and mother. Y oui 
father, though he was not a man of 
rank, was as rich as a prince, and it 
was a good thing that he had so 
much wealth, for the chief aim of his 
life was to be good. Such a man 
was soon known through all the 
land. There was a huge man, . 
twelve feet high, who had a house 


54 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


a great way off. This man was just 
as bad as your father was good 
He could not bear the sight of 
those who by their good deeds won 
the love of all who knew them ; 
then all that he saw, he had a wish 
to have for his own, and he did 
not care how much pain he gave. 
But he had the skill to hide all his 
bad thoughts. He was poor, and 
his great aim was to get wealth ; 
he did not care how. He heard 
some men speak of your father, 
and thought it would be a good 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 55 


thing to know him, for he thought 
he could soon make your father 
like him. He soon came to live 
near your house, and got some 
men to say that he had once been 
a rich man, but had just lost all he 
had by a great storm, in which he 
had had hard work to save his life ; 
his wife was with him. Your 
father thought his tale was true, 
and felt sad at heart for his great 
loss. He gave him fine rooms in 
his own house, and told them to 
treat him and his wife as guests of 


56 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


high rank. He did not dream 
that the huge man had in his heart 
a deep scheme, which would ill 
pay him for his kind act, and 
which it should have made the 
huge man blush with shame and 
fear to think of. Your father’s 
house was a good way from the 
shore of the sea, but with a glass 
the coast could be seen- with ease. 
The huge man one day had the 
glass in his hand ; the wind blew 
quite a gale. He saw a fleet of 
ships off the rock in great need of 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 57 

The huge man one day had the 
glass in his hand ; the wind blew 
quite a gale. He saw a fleet of 
ships off the rock in great need of 
help. He ran to your father and 
told him of the fact. He said 
how kind it would be in your 
father to send all the men he 
could spare, to help those who 
w r ere in such great need. Your 
father sent them all but the man 
who kept the door, and your 
nurse. The huge man then went 
to your father in his room and 


58 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


chance to stab him to the heart. 
He fell down dead on the spot. 
The huge man left the corpse, 
found the man who kept the door, 
and the nurse, and soon slew them 
both ; for he made up his mind 
that none of them should live to 
tell of the deed he had done. 
You were then but three months 
old : your mother had you in her 
arms, in a room quite far from 
that of your father ; she went to 
your father’s room, and what a 
shock it was to her, when she 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 59 


saw that your father was a corpse, 
and lay on the ground in his blood. 
She was so faint with grief and 
fear, that she could not move. 
The huge man who had tried to 
find her, found her in that sad 
state, and made haste to serve her 
and you as he had done her spouse, 
but she fell at his feet to beg him 
to spare your life and hers. It 
would seem as if for a short time 
he felt sad to think what a deed 
he had done, for he said he would 
let you both live, but first he 


60 JACK AND THE BEAN STALE. 


made her give him her word, that 
she would not tell you who your 
father was, nor speak to you of 
him at all ; he told her that if she 
did he would be sure to find it 
out, and put both of you to death. 
Your mother took you in her 
arms, and fled as fast as she could. 
She was but just gone when the 
huge man thought he had not 
been wise to let her go. He 
would have gone to seek her and 
kill her at once, but he had to 
take care of his own life. He 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 61 


was in haste to be gone before the 
men came back. As your father 
had not hid his wealth from him, 
he knew where to find all his 
gold ; he took all he and his wife 
could hold, set the house on fire 
in more than one place, and when 
the men came back, the house 
was burnt quite down to the 
ground. Y our poor mother, with 
no home and no hope, went with 
you a great way from that place. 
Her fear made her make still more 
haste ; she went to the small house 



02 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


where you were brought up, and 
her fear of the huge man would 
not let her talk to you of your 
father. It was my place to take 
care of your father from his birth, 
but fairies as well as men have 
laws that they must mind. Just 
at the time when the huge man 
first heard of your father, I did a 
wrong thing ; for that I lost my 
strength to do good, for some 
years. It was a sad case, for had 
it not been for that I might have 
been of use to your father. The 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 63 


day on which you met the man 
who sold meat, as you went to sell 
your mother’s cow, I got back the 
use of my art. Though you did 
not know it, it was I who put it 
in your head to sell your cow for 
a few beans. By my art it was 
that the bean stalk grew to such a 
height, and made a flight of steps. 
I need not add that it was I who 
made you wish to go up the steps. 
The huge man lives in this land. 
It shall be your work to make him 
feel the pain he ought to feel for 


64 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


his great crimes. You will have 
much to do and much to bear, 
but you must go on and make 
him feel what a wrong deed he 
did, when he took your father’s 
life. If you do not do this, you 
will fail in all you try to do, and 
your whole life will be full of woe. 
As to the huge man’s wealth, you 
may seize on all you can, for all 
that he has is yours. One more 
thing I have to say to you : do 
not let your mother know what I 
have told you till the next time 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 65 


you and I meet. Go straight on 
in this path ; you will soon come tc 
the place where your foe lives. 
While you do as I tell you, I will 
take care of you and guard you. 
but keep well in your mind that 
if you dare to do what I tell you 
not, yours will be a sad fate.” 
When the fairy had said all she 
had to say, she went out of sight 
at once, and left Jack to go on his 
way. He went on till the sun 
had set, when, to his joy, he saw a 

large house. This sight made him 

6 * 


66 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


feel less sad. He made great haste 
and soon got to it. A dame who 
was quite plain, stood at the door ; 
he spoke to her, to beg her to give 
him a piece of bread, and let him 
spend the night there. She said it 
was a strange thing to her to see 
him there ; it was rare to see a 
man or boy near their house, for it 
was well known that her spouse 
was a huge man of great strength, 
and that he would not eat a thing 
but the flesh of men, if he could 
but get it, and he did not mind a 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 67 


walk of twelve miles to get it, and 
it was his way to be out all day to 
try to find some. This put Jack 
in great fear, but still he had hopes 
that he could keep out of the way 
of the huge man, so all he . did was 
to beg the dame to take him in 
just for one night, and hide him 
where she thought best. The 
good dame at last said she would 
do what she could, for she had a 
kind heart, so she let him come in. 
First they came to a fine large 
hall, with chairs with rich silk for 


68 JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 


their seats, and all the rest ol 
the things in the same style, but 
there was no one in it. Then they 
went through some more rooms 
just like it. Then came a long 
dark hall, yet it was not so dark 
but that Jack could see that in 
place of a wall on one side, there 
were great bars, which shut off 
some cells, from whence came the 
groans of those poor things whom 
the huge man kept shut up, so 
that he might have them to eat 
when he felt like it. Poor Jack 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 69 


was half dead with fear, and 
would have been glad at heart to 
be with his mother once more, for 
he now had fears that he should 
see her no more. He lost his faith 
in the good dame, and thought 
she had let him in just to lock 
him up with the poor folks in the 
cells. At the end of the long 
hall, there was a great room to 
cook in, and there was a bright 
fire in the grate. The good dame 
bade Jack sit down, and gave him 
as much as he could eat and drink. 


70 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


As Jack did not see a thing here 
which could cause fear, he thought 
no more of it, and grew full of fun, 
when all at once he heard a loud 
knock at the street door, which 
made the whole house shake ; the 
huge man’s wife ran to hide Jack 
in the place that was made to bake 
bread in, and then went to let in 
her spouse. Jack heard him speak 
to her in a voice like the roar of a 
large gun ; he said, “ Wife, I smell 
fresh meat.” “ Oh my dear,” said 
she, “ it is but the folks in the 



JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 71 


cells.” It would seem as if the 
huge man thought that she spoke 
the truth, for he came straight to 
the room where poor Jack was. 
He shook with fright, for he felt 
more fear now than he had done 
when he went past the cells. 
When the huge man had made 
up his mind that there was no one 
there, he sat down by the fire, 
while his wife went to get his tea 
for him. By and by, Jack grew 
so brave as to look at the huge 
man, through a small crack in the 


72 JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 


place where he lay hid. He did 
not know what to think when he 
saw how much the huge man 
could eat. He ate and drank till 
he could eat and drink no more. 
When the meal was at an end, the 
huge man told his wife to bring 
him his hen. A fine, fat hen was 
brought and put in front of him 
in the place where his plate had 
been. Jack thought he would 
like to know what would come to 
pass, so he did not cease to look 
out through his crack. He saw 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 73 


that each time the huge man said, 
“ Lay,” the hen laid an egg of pure 
gold. The huge man spoke thus 
to his hen for a long time. In 
the mean time his wife went to 
bed. At length the huge man 
went to sleep by the fire and gave 
a loud snore like the roar of a gun. 
At dawn of day, as Jack found 
that the huge man did not wake, 
and did not look as if he would 
wake till noon, he crept out of the 
place where he lay, took up the 
hen and ran off with her. It was 


74 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


quite hard for him to find his way 
out of the house, but at last he got 
to the road all safe. It was not 
hard for him to find his way to the 
bean stalk, and he got down it with 
much more ease and in much less 
time than he thought he should. 
His mother was full of joy when 
she saw him. He found her in 
tears for his sad fate, for she felt 
sure that he had come to some 
bad end, through his rash act. 
Jack was in great haste to show 
his hen, and tell his mother how 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 75 


much she was worth. “ And 
now, mother,” said Jack, “ I have' 
brought home that which will soon 
make us rich, and I hope to make 
up for the grief I have been so bad 
as to cause you. I know how 
wrong it was in me not to work, 
and to spend your pence as I did, 
and to act as if I had no sense. 
The hen laid all the eggs of gold 
that they told her to. They sold 
them, and in a short time were as 
rich as they could wish. For 
some months, Jack and his mother 


76 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


dwelt in great peace and joy. But 
he had a great wish to leave home 
for a trip. He thought too of what 
the fairy had said, and he had some 
fear that she would not like it if 
he did not soon go once more to 
the house of the huge man. And 
he had a great wish to climb the 
bean stalk, and pay the huge man 
one more call ; for when J ack was 
in the huge man’s house, while he 
lay hid in the place made to bake 
bread, he heard all that the huge 
man said to his wife and found 


JACK AND THE BEAN S TALK. 


out from that, that there were some 
rich and rare things in his house. 
Jack thought of his trip day by 
day, but still he could not make up 
his mind to tell his mother that he 
meant to go, for he was quite sure 
that she would try all she could to 
keep him at home. But one day 
he was so bold as to tell her that 
he must take a trip up the bean 
stalk. He knew she would beg 
and pray him not to think of it, 
and he was right. She said all 
she could think of to make him 

7 * 


78 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


stay at home; she told him that 
the wife of the huge man would 
be sure to know him when she 
saw him ; and that the huge man 
would be full of joy to get him in 
his house, that he might put him 
to some death full of pain, to pay 
him for the loss of his hen. Jack 
found that all he could say was of 
no use, so he let his mother think 
he would give up the the point, 
though he had made up his mind 
that he would go. He had a dress 
made which would hide his form, 



JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 79 


and then he got a dye for his skin, 
and thought that no one could 
know him in such a dress. When 
a few days had gone by, he got 
up at dawn of day, put the dye 
on his face, and, when no one 
saw him, went once more up the 
bean stalk. When he got to the 
top, he would have been glad of 
both food and rest. When he 
had sat for some time on one of 
the stones, he went on his way to 
the huge man’s house. He got 
there just at dusk, and the dame 


80 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


was at the door, as she had been 
the last time he went there. Jack 
spoke to her, and told her a sad 
tale, the aim of which was to beg 
her to give him some food and 
drink, and a bed to sleep in that 
night. She told him (which he 
knew quite as well as she did) that 
her spouse was a strong and huge 
man ; she told him, too, that one 
day she let in a poor boy who had 
no friends, and who was in great 
need of food, and half dead with 
the long way he had come ; that 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 81 


the wretch, whose heart should 
have been, full of thanks, went off 
at dawn of day, when she had not 
yet got down stairs, and took with 
him a thing of great worth, that the 
huge man set great store by ; and 
that since that time, her spouse had 
been still worse than he had been, 
and that now he did not care how 
much he beat her, and told her all 
the time, that she was the cause 
of his great loss. Jack was at no 
loss to find out that the tale which 
he heard, was the tale of a p.art of 



82 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


his own life ; he did his best to get 
the good dame to let him in ; but 
he found it quite a hard task. At 
last she let him in, and as she led 
the way, Jack saw that all the 
things were just as he had found 
them when he was there the last 
time; she took him to the room 
that was built to cook in, and when 
he had had as much as he could 
eat and drink, she hid him in a 
large box where she kept wood. 
The huge man came home at 
night, at the same hour as he did 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 83 


the first time that Jack was there. 
His great strides made the house 
shake from the roof to the ground. 
He sat down by the fire, and in a 
short time he cried out ; “ Wife, I 
smell fresh meat.” The wife said 
it was the crows, who had brought 
a piece of raw meat, and left it on 
the top of the house. Whilst she 
got his tea, the huge man was quite 
cross, and in great haste to eat ; 
from time to time he would lift up 
his hand to strike his wife; but 
he was not as quick as she was, 


84 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


and so she had the good luck to 
get out of the way of the blow. 
From time to time, he would speak 
of his hen, and fell her it was her 
fault it was lost. The huge man 
ate and drank till he could eat and 
drink no more; he then said to his 
wife, “ I must have some kind of 
a thing to pass the time ; I must 
have my bags of gold or my harp. 
He was just as cross when he had 
had his tea, as he was while she 
got it for him, and did all he could 
to tease his wife for some time. 



JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 85 


Then he told her to bring down his 
bags of gold. Jack, as he did the 
first night he was there, took a 
peep, from time to time, from the 
place where he lay hid. Soon 
the huge man’s wife brought down 
to the room two huge bags. They 
were of great size, and full of gold, 
up to the top. She put them both 
in front of the huge man, who, in 
place of thanks, did but scold her 
for the long time it took her to 
fetch them. She told him, while 
she shook with fear, that their 


86 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK . 


weight was so great that she could 
scarce lift them, and that she had 
made up her mind that she would 
bring them down stairs no more, 
for their weight made her quite 
faint and sick. This made the 
huge man fly in such a rage that 
he put out his hand to strike her, 
but she got free from him and 
went off to bed, and left him to 
count his gold, and in that way 
pass the time till he went to sleep. 
The huge man took up the bags 
and held them to the light, and 



JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 87 


shook them, to see that they were 
in the same state as he left them ; 
he then took out all that was in 
them, to count it. He spread 
all the gold out on the stand in 
front of him, that he might feast 
his eyes on it. Jack saw the bright 
heaps with a heart full of joy, and 
thought how glad he should be if 
he had them all in his own house. 
The huge man man (who did not 
dream that Jack could watch him 
with so much ease) took up each 
piece of gold more than once to be 


88 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


sure that they were all there ; 
when he found that they were all 
safe, he put them back in the bag, 
which he tied up as tight as he 
could. Jack was so bold as to think 
that he could get both bags ; but 
he was too wise to try it too soon. 
He had some fear that the huge 
man would sham sleep, so that if 
a man lay hid to rob him, he might 
catch him. At last the huge man 
fell back on his chair by the side 
of the fire and went to sleep. He 
gave such loud snores that Jack 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 89 

thought the noise he made, was 
like the roar of the sea in a high 
wind, when the tide comes in. 
At last Jack felt sure that he slept, 
and now he thought he was safe, 
so he stole out of the place where 
he was hid, and went up to the 
huge man so as to take the two 
bags of gold ; but back of the huge 
man’s chair was a small dog whom 
Jack had not seen till then; he 
sprang out, just as Jack laid his 
hand on one of the bags of gold, 

and set up a loud bark. Poor J ack 

8 * 


90 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


now thought to be sure he was 
lost, and his fear was so great that 
he could not move from the spot. 
He did not try to run off, but 
stood still, though he thought all 
the time that his foe would wake 
and catch him. But he found, to 
his great joy, that the huge man 
kept in a sound sleep, and let the 
dog bark in vain, and his bark 
was not so fierce as it had been 
at first. Jack soon got back his 
strength of mind, and as he gave a 
look round, he saw a large piece 


JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 91 


of meat ; this he threw to the dog, 
who made a jump for it and took 
it to the wood-box which Jack 
had just got out of. As he found 
that he had now got rid of his 
small foe, who made so much 
noise and had put him in such a 
fright, and as he saw that the 
huge man, in spite of all the noise, 
did not wake, Jack was so bold as 
to seize both the bags. He threw 
them on his back, and ran out of 
the room. He got to the street 
door quite safe, and found that it 


92 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 

was day, and the sun quite high 
in the sky. In his way to the top 
of the bean stalk, he found the 
two bags of gold much in his way ; 
for their weight was so great that 
it was hard for him to lift them ; 
but he tried not .to think of that, 
he was so glad to get the gold. 
Jack was full of joy when he 
found that he was near the bean 
stalk ; he soon got down it, and 
ran as fast as the weight of the 
bags would let him, to seek his 
mother ; but what was his grief, 


JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 93 


when he came to the cot and found 
no one in it. He ran with speed 
from room to room, and still he 
saw no one ; he then went to the 
town, in the hope that he should 
see some of those whose homes 
were near, and that they might 
tell him where he could find his 
mother. An old dame at last told 
him to go to a house not far off, 
where she lay ill and in great pain. 
It was a great shock to him, to see 
her look as if she were near death ; 
his thoughts gave him so much 


94 JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 


pain that he did not know how to 
bear them, for he knew that if she 
should die, it would be through 
his fault. When Jack’s mother 
was told that he had got safe back, 
she felt once more as if she would 
be glad to live ; her strength came 
back day by day, and in a few 
weeks she was quite well. Jack 
gave her his two bags of gold ; 
they went back to the cot, which 
they first got some men to pain, 
from the roof to the ground, and 
all the things in it were new. 


JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 95 


Their home was now full of peace 
and joy. 

For three years, Jack heard no 
more of the bean stalk, but he 
could not get it out of his mind ; 
he did not speak of it lest he 
should give his mother pain. She 
would not say a word of the bean 
stalk, lest it should make him want 
to take one more trip, and she could 
not bear to have him go. Though 
Jack’s home had in it all that he 
could wish, his mind dwelt all the 
time on the bean stalk, for the 


96 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


fairy’s threats, in case he did not 
mind her, came back to his mind 
from time to time, so that he could 
think of naught else, and it kept all 
joy from him. It was in vain that 
he tried to make the time pass ; he 
thought of the bean stalk at night, 
and he would rise at the first dawn 
of day, and view the bean stalk 
for hours and hours. His mother 
saw that there was some great 
weight on his mind, and tried to 
find out the cause of it. But Jack 
would not tell her, for he knew full 



JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 97 


well, that if she did find out what 
he had on his mind it would make 
her ill. So he tried his best not to 
think how much he would like 
one more trip up the bean stalk. 
But as he found that his wish 
grew too strong for him, he made 
up his mind that he would go; 
so on a long day in the month 
of June, he got up as soon as it 
was light, went up the bean stalk, 
and at last got up to the top of it. 
He found the road, and the stones 
and all the rest of the things, 

9 


98 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


much as they were the first two 
times he had been there ; he got 
to the huge man’s house just at 
dusk, and found his wife in her 
place at the front door. Jack 
had made such a change in his 
dress, and had grown so much 
since he was last there, that she did 
not know him at all ; but when he 
said that he was poor, and in great 
need of food, to make her let him 
in, he found it quite hard to get 
her to do so. At last he got in, 
and she hid him in a huge tub, 


JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 99 


with a lid, which was made to boil 
clothes in. When the huge man 
came back, he said, “ I smell fresh 
meat.” But Jack felt quite at ease, 
for he had heard the same thing 
twice, and both times no harm 
came of it ; but this time the huge 
man sprang up from his seat, and 
in spite of all his wife could say, 
he gave a close search all round the 
room. Whilst this went on, Jack 
was in great fear ; in fact he was 
half dead with fright, and thought, 
“ Oh that I were safe at home once 


100 JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 


more.” But when the huge man 
came to the tub and put his hand 
on the lid, Jack thought his death 
was sure. But the huge man 
made an end of his search there, 
and did not move the lid, but sat 
down, with a mind quite at ease, 
close to the fire. This fright 
made Jack feel quite faint; he did' 
not dare to move, and could scarce 
breathe, lest he should be found 
out. The huge man at last made 
a great meal ; when he had done, 
he told his wife to bring down 


JACK AND TUE BEAN STALK. 101 


his harp. Jack gave a sly peep 
through the lid of the tub, and saw 
as fine a harp as could be thought 
of. The huge man put it on the 
stand in front of him, and said, 
“Play,” and though he did not 
touch it, it would play gay tunes 
for four or five hours. The chords 
were as sweet and as gay as the 
songs of birds. Jack was full of 
joy, and felt that it would make 
him more glad to get the harp in 
his hands, than the hen or the bags 
of gold. The huge man’s soul 


102 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 

was not in a fit state to hear sweet 
sounds, and in a short time he was 
in a deep sleep. Now, then, was 
the time to take off the harp, for 
the huge man gave such snores 
and grunts as to show that he was 
in as sound a sleep as could be. 
Jack’s mind was soon made up. 
He got out of the tub, and took 
hold of the harp. But a fairy had 
put a spell on the harp, and it 
cried out in a loud tone, “ Master, 
Master!” The huge man woke 
up ; he stood up, and tried to catch 


JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 103 


Jack, but he had drank so much 
that it was hard for him to stand. 
Poor Jack ran as fast as he could. 
In a short time the huge man got 
so that he could get on, with huge 
strides, but he could by no means 
walk straight. If he had not drank 
too much, he could have caught 
Jack in no time; but as he then 
was, Jack got first to the top of 
the bean stalk. The huge man, 
from time to time, gave a loud 
call, in a voice that was like 
the roar of a great gun, and more 


104 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


than once he got quite near him. 
As soon as Jack got down the 
bean stalk, he cried out to his 
mother to bring him an axe ; she 
brought him one at once, and just 
as she did so, the huge man put 
both his feet on the bean stalk to 
go down. But Jack, with his 
axe, cut the bean stalk close off at 
root, which made the huge man 
fall down to the ground head first ; 
it was a great height to fall, and 
his head came down on a rough 
stone, so that he died at once, and 


ST m 



JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. 



JACK AND TEE BEAN STALK. 105 


the world was freed from a wretch 
who did but live to give pain to 
all he knew. Jack’s mother was 
so glad she did not know what to 
do, when she saw the bean stalk cut 
down. Just then the fairy came 
insight. She first spoke to Jack's 
mother, and told her how she had 
put it in Jack’s head to buy the 
beans, and made him wish to go 
up the bean stalk, and how she 
had met him at the top of it and 
told him to go to the huge man’s 
house. She then spoke to Jack, 


106 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK. 


and told him to take care of his 
mother, and do what she told him, 
and to grow up a good and wise 
man, such as his father had been, 
for there was no way but that, to 
make his life full of joy. She then 
went out of their sight. The first 
thing that Jack did, was to beg 
his mother to think no more of all 
the wrong things he had said and 
done, and he told her that from 
this time forth he would be good 
and kind to her, and do all that 
she told him. 



BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 












BEAUTY 

AND 


THE BEAST. 

0 


There was once a rich man, 
who. had three boys and three 


8 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


girls. As he was a man of good 
sense, he took great pains to have 
them taught all that it was right 
for them to know, and did his 
best to get all the wise men of the 
land to teach them. The two 
lirst girls were by no means plain, 
but the third was still less so ; in 
truth she had so sweet a face, 
and so fine a form, that she got 
the name of the Little Beauty, and 
as she was still the same when 
she grew up, she kept that name. 
Her sisters did not like their 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


9 


friends to love her more then them, 
but they all did so, and this made 
them cease to care for her. It 
gave all who knew them, joy to 
look at this girl’s sweet face ; and 
her kind heart, too, made them 
love her. The two big girls were 
proud of their wealth, and spoke 
with pride to those who they 
thought were not so rich as they 
were. They were full of airs, 
and would not go to see the girls 
who had less wealth than they 
had. They went each day to 


10 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


balls, plays and walks, where they 
met gay crowds, and made game 
of their sister, who read, or sat at 
her work, and did what was of 
use. As it was well known that 
these young girls would be rich at 
their pa’s death, some of the men 
who had large stores in the town, 
thought they would like to get 
them for wives, but the two big 
girls said that, for their part they 
would be the wives of none but 
dukes or earls at least. There 
were not a few who thought they 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


11 


would have cause to be proud, 
if they could have had Beauty for 
a wife, but to all who told her so, 
she said with a sweet smile, that 
. she gave them thanks, but she did 
not wish to leave her father for 
some years, as she thought she was 
too young to be a wife. 

It came to pass that, by some 
sad chance, the rich man all al 
once lost his wealth, and had then 
naught but a small house and 
farm far from the town. So he 
said to his girls, while the tears 


12 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


ran down his cheeks all the time, 
“ My girls, we must now go and 
live in our small house, and try to 
earn our bread by our work, for 
there is no way but that for us to 
live.” The two big girls said that, 
for their part, they did not know 
how to work, and would not 
leave town, for there were scores 
of men who would be glad to 
make them their wives, though 
they had lost their wealth. 
But this they found was not so, 
for when the men heard what had 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


13 


come to pass, they said, “ The 
girls were so proud and cross that 
we did not want them, we did 
but ask them for the sake of their 
wealth ; we are glad to see their 
pride brought down ; let them put 
on their airs to their cows and 
their sheep.” But all were sad 
to see poor Beauty lose her 
wealth, she was so sweet and 
good to all who knew her, and 
more than one man would have 
been glad to make her his wife, 

though she had not a cent. But 

2 


14 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


Beauty would not ; she said she 
could not leave her poor father, in 
his grief, and would go and help 
him in his work far from the 
town. At first, (when no one 
saw her,) Beauty cried, when she 
thought of all she would have to 
bear, but in a short time she said, 
“It will do me no good if I cry 
my eyes out, so I will try not to 
be sad, though I have lost my 
wealth. When they had gone to 
their small house, to make it their 
home, her father and his three sons 


BEA UTY AND THE BEAST. 


15 


spent their days in the fields, at the 
plough, and when the sun set, they 
came home and did what work 
they could in the yard near the 
house, till it grew too dark for them 
to see. Beauty, too, did her part, 
for she got up at the dawn of day, 
and made the fires, and swept the 
house. It was she who put the 
meat to boil, and the bread to 
bake, and did not cease to watch 
them while they were on the fire, 
lest they should burn. At first 
she found all this hard, but soon 


16 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


she got to like it, and did not think it 
hard at all ; and she grew quite 
strong and well, which she had 
not at all times been. When she 
had done her work she would read, 
or play on her harp, or sing while 
she spun. But her two sisters were 
at a loss what to do to pass the time 
They took their first meal in bed, 
and did not rise till ten. Then 
they took a walk, but they did not 
care to walk far ; they would soon 
sit down in the shade of a tree 
and grieve for the loss of their 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


17 


coach and fine clothes, and would 
say, “What a goose our young 
sister is, to like so well our low 
way of life!” But their father 
did not think at all as they did. 
The sweet ways of his dear girl 
were his best joy, for her sisters 
left her to do the whole work 
of the house, and made game of 
her all the time. When they had 
spent a year and some months in 
this way, the man got a note which 
told him that one of his rich ships, 
which he thought was lost, had 


18 BEAUTY' AND TEE BEAST. 

just come to land. This news 
made the too big girls half wild 
with joy, for they thought they 
should now leave the small house, 
and have rich and gay clothes once 
more. When they found that their 
father must go a great way off, to 
the ship, the two big girls ran to 
him to beg that he would not fail to 
bring them back some new gowns, 
caps, rings, and all sorts of fine 
things. But Beauty did not ask 
him to bring her fine things, for 
she thought that all the ship was 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


19 


worth would not buy all the fine 
things her sisters had told him to 
bring. “Beauty,” said her father, 
“ can it be that you have no wish for 
fine things? What can I bring 
you, my child ?” “ Since you are so 
kind as to think of me, dear father,” 
she said, “ I should be glad if you 
would bring me a rose, for we 
have none in our yard.” Now, in 
truth, Beauty did not wish for a 
rose ; she had no wish at all ; but 
she said this that she might not 
vex her sisters, for if she had said 


20 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


that she had no wish, they would 
have thought she said so, that their 
father might praise her more than 
them. He took his leave of them 
and set out on his way; but when 
he got to the- ship, some men went 
to law with him for the things that 
were on board of it. He had to 
wait a long time, and then set out 
to go back to his small house, as 
poor as he had left it. When he 
was but twelve miles from home, 
as he rode, he thought what joy it 
would be to see his girls once more ; 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


21 


but his way lay through a thick 
wood, and he was lost. Then a 
storm came on, the rain and hail 
fell thick and fast, and the wind was 
so high as to throw him twice from 
his horse. Night came on, and he 
thought to be sure he should die 
of cold and want of food, or be torn 
to bits by the wolves that he heard 
howl all round him. All at once 
he cast his eyes to where there 
was a long row of trees, and he saw 
a light at the end of them, but it 
was a long way off. He went up 



22 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


to it as fast as he could, and found 
that it came from a fine house with 
lamps in all parts of it. He went 
on with still more speed, and soon 
got to the gate, which he went 
through, and strange to say, he saw 
no man, nor beast, nor fowl, in the 
yard. His horse had come in 
with him, and as it found a barn, 
the door of which was not shut, it 
went in at once, and here the poor 
beast, who was in great want of 
food, ate a good meal of oats and 
hay. The man then tied him up 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


23 


and went to the house. He went 
in, but still did not see a thing that 
had life. He went on, and came 
to a large hall where he found a 
good fire and some nice meat and 
bread; and one plate and knife and 
fork. As he was wet to the skin 
with the hail and rain he went up 
to the fire to get dry. “ I hope,” 
said he, “the man who owns this 
house, or the men who wait on him, 
will not find fault with me, for to 
be sure I shall soon see them now.” 
He stood still a good while, but 


24 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


no one came ; at last he saw that 
in one hour it would be twelve, 
and as he was quite faint for want 
of food, he took a fowl, which he 
made but two bites of ; then he took 
a glass or two of wine ; yet all the 
time he shook with fear. He sat 
till the clock struck twelve, but 
saw no one. He now grew bold, 
and thought he would look round 
and see what was to be seen, 
so he went to a door at the end of 
the hall, gave one more look round, 
saw no one, and made up his mind 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


25 


to walk through the door. It led to 
a grand room, in which there was 
a fine bed, and as he was in great 
need of rest, he shut the door, took 
off his clothes and lay down. It 
was ten the next morn when 
he woke. Up he sprang with a 
bound, but he did not know what 
to think, when he saw a fine new 
suit of clothes laid out for him in 
place of his own, which had had 
so much harm done to them by 
the rain, that they were not fit 
for him to wear. “To be sure,” 

3 


26 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


said he, “ this is the house 
of some good fairy, who has 
seen my bad luck, and is kind 
to me.” He gave a look out 
of doors, and he saw large groves, 
in which there were fine, gay 
plants. He went back to the 
hall where he had had so good a 
meal the last night, and found 
some tea and toast and all sorts of 
good things laid out for him. “ In 
truth, my good Fairy,” said he in 
quite a loud tone, “ I thank you 
for your kind care of me.” He then 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 27 

made a good meal, took his hat 
and left the hall, to go to the ban 
to see his horse; but, as he went 
by a bush on which was a pure 
white rose, he thought of what 
Beauty had said she would like 
him to bring back to her, so he 
took out his knife and cut the rose 
from its stem, that he might take 
it home with him. Just then he 
heard a loud noise, and saw such 
a fierce beast come up to him, that 
he felt as if he should drop with 
fear. “ Vile man,” said the beast, in 


28 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


a voice full of rage, “ did I save 
your life for this ? I let you come in 
my house and get warm, and eat 
and sleep, and to pay me for that 
you steal from me my white rose, 
which was more to me than all 
else that is mine; but you shall 
pay for your fault with your life ; 
you shall die in less than half an 
hour.” The man fell on his knees 
to the beast, and held up his hands 
to him and said, “ My lord, I beg 
you not to kill me ; I did not think 
it would vex you, if I took a rose 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


29 


for one of my girls, for when I left 
home I said I would get her 
gowns, or rings, or books, if she 
would but tell me what ; but all 
she would ask for was a rose.” “ I 
am not a lord, but a beast,” said 
the beast, “I do not like false 
names. I like men to say what 
they mean ; so do not think that 
you can coax me by such ways. 
You tell me that you have girls. 
Now I will let you live if one of 
them will come and die in your 
place. Go, but first give me your 


30 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


word that you will come back in 
three months, if none of your girls 
will come in your place.” The 
good man did not mean to let one 
of his girls die in his place, but he 
knew that if the beast thought he 
would do what he told him, he 
should see them once more, which 
would make his heart glad. So he 
gave his word to the beast, and 
the beast then told him he might 
set off as soon as he thought best. 
“ But,” said the beast, “ I do not 
wish you to go back till you have 


BEAUTY AND THE BFAST. 31 


got what you like, to take with 
you. Go to the room you slept 
in; you will find a chest there ; fill it 
with just what you like best, aftd 
I will have it sent to your own 
house for you.” When the beast 
had said this he went off, and the 
good man thought, “ If I must die, 
it will be joy to me to leave my 
girls some wealth.” He went 
back to the room he had slept in, 
and found a great deal of gold coin. 
He put the gold in the chest till it 
was full up to the brim, then he 


32 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


shut it up tight, got on his horse, 
and left the house, as full of grief 
now as he had been full of joy 
when he found it. 

The man did not pull the rein, 
but let his horse choose his own 
path through the wood, and in a 
hour or so they got home. His 
girls ran to meet him as he got off 
his horse, but the man could not 
kiss them with joy : his eyes were 
full of tears, as he put his arms 
round them. He held in his 
hand the white rose he had cut 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST 


33 


off the bush, he gave it to Beauty, 
and said, “Take this rose, Beauty, 
but you do not know how dear it 
has cost your poor father,” and thftn 
he told them all he had seen and 
heard in the house of the beast. 
The two big girls now shed tears, 
and laid the blame on Beauty, 
who they said would be the cause 
of her father s death. “ See,” said 
they, “ what comes from the pride 
of this girl ; why did she not ask 
for fine things as we did ? but, to 
be sure, Miss must not be like 


34 BE A UTY AND TEE BEAST . . 

the rest of us, and though she will 
be the cause of her father’s death, 
yet she does not shed a tear ! ” 
“ It would be of no use ,” said 
Beauty, “ to weep for the death 
of my father, for he shall not die 
now. As the beast will take one of 
his girls in his stead, I will put my 
life in his hands ; and I shall be glad 
that I can at the same time prove 
my love for, and give up my life for 
the best of fathers.” “ No, sister,” 
said the three sons, “you shall 
not die ; we will go in search of 


BE A UTY AND THE BEAST. 


35 


this beast, and he shall die, or 
kill us all three.” “ Do not hope 
to kill him,” said their father ; “ he 
is too strong to let you do such a 
thing. I am glad to see that 
Beauty has the same kind heart 
she has had since she was a babe ; 
but I will not let her lose her life. 
I am old, and can not live long, 
so I shall give up but a few years of 
my life, and it would not grieve me 
at all, were it not for my boys and 
girls.” “No, father,” cried Beau- 
ty,“you shall not go to the beast’s 


36 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 

house and leave me at home, for 
you can not keep me here when 
you go; though young, I am not 
too fond of life, and it would 
please me more to have the beast 
eat me up, than to die of the grief 
your loss would cause me.” The 
man tried in vain to make Beauty 
think as he did, for she would go, 
which, in truth, made her two 
sisters glad ; for they still had the 
same old fault to find with her, 
which was, that all who knew 
them would love her more than 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


37 


they could love them. Her father 
was so full of grief at the thought 
that he should lose his child, that 
he did not think of the chest full 
of gold till night, when he found 
it by the side of his bed. He did 
not tell his big girls that he had a 
chest full of gold, for he knew it 
would at once make them want 
to go back to town ; but he told 
Beauty of it, and let her see it, 
and she then said that while he 
was gone, two rich men had been 
to their house to see them, and 


38 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


they fell in love with her two sisters 
and would like to make them 
their wives. She then told her 
father that it would please her if he 
would let these rich men take 
them for their wives soon, for she 
was so good and kind that she 
felt great love for them, though 
they had shown none for her, for 
she was too good a girl to let her 
thoughts dwell on the wrongs 
they had done her. When the 
three months were past, Beauty 
and her pa set out to go to the 



BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 39 

house of the beast. The two 
sisters could not cry; they were 
too glad ; so they took a kind of 
root that makes the eyes smart, to 
rub their eyes with, to make their 
father think that they shed tears ; 
but both he and his sons cried hard ; 
so all cried but Beauty; she did not, 
for she thought that would but 
make things worse. They got to 
the beast’s house in a few hours, 
and the horse, though no one told 
him to do so, went straight to the 
same barn where he found such 


40 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


good cheer when he was there the 
last time. Beauty and her father 
went to the large hall, where they 
found all sorts of good things for 
them to eat, and two plates, one for 
each of them. Beauty’s father did 
not eat much, but she, to hide her 
grief, sat down and put some food 
on her father’s plate ; then she tried 
to eat, and thought all the time that 
to be sure the beast had a mind 
to make her fat, so that he would 
find her good to eat, as he had got 
such good cheer for her. When 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


41 


they had got done their meal, they 
heard a great noise, and the good 
old man bade his poor child good 
by, for he knew that it was the 
beast he heard. When Beauty 
first saw his huge form, she 
shook with fright, but she tried to 
hide her fear as much as she 
could. The first thing the beast 
did was to ask her if she had 
come quite of her own free will, and 
though she was now half dead with 
fear, she said, “Yes.” “You are 
a good girl, and I thank you,” 


42 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


said he. He then said to her pa, 
“ Good man, you may leave this 
place at dawn of day, and take 
care that you do not come back. 
Good night, Beauty.” “ Good 
night beast,” said she, and then the 
beast went out of the room. “ Ah, 
my dear child,” said Beauty’s pa, as 
he gave her a kiss, “I am half 
dead with the thought that I must 
leave you with this vile beast ; do 
you go back, and let me stay in 
your place.” “No,” said Beauty, 
that shall not be ; you must go 




BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 43 

home at dawn of day.” The) 
then said good night and went to 
bed. They both of them thought 
they could not sleep a wink ; but 
as soon as they had lain down, 
they went to sleep and did not 
wake till near dawn. Beauty 
had a sweet dream, which was 
that some one, with a pure white 
dress on, came to her and said, 

“ It gives me great joy Beauty, 
to see what a kind heart you 
have. It was your wish to give 
your life to save that of your father ; 



44 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


that was kind and right, and you 
shall live to be glad that you have 
done so.” As soon as Beauty woke, 
she told her father this dream, 
but though it gave him some hope, 
he shed tears as he took leave 
of his dear child. When he was 
out of sight, Beauty sat down in 
the large hall and cried as if her 
heart would break ; yet she had a 
strong, brave heart, so she soon 
made up her mind not to make 
her sad case still worse by grief, 
which she knew could be of no 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


45 


use to her, but to wait as well as 
she could till night, when she 
thought the beast would not fail 
to come and eat her up. In the 
mean time, as no one came to her, 
she went up stairs and down stairs, 
and took a full view of all the 
house. So grand a house she had 
not seen in all her life. But who 
can tell how queer she felt, when 
she came to a door on which she 
read the words, Beauty's Room. 
She went in, in haste, and it made 
her eyes and her heart glad to see 


46 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


such a room. What gave her 
more joy than all, was that one 
side of the room was full of shelves 
on which were books. She saw, 
too, a harp, to which she could sing 
the sweet songs she had sung in 
her own home. “ The Beast 
takes care I shall not be at a loss 
how to spend my time,” said she. 
She then thought that the beast 
would not have put all these things 
here for her, if she had but one 
day to live, and it gave her hope 
that all would not turn out so bad 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


47 


as her fears. She went to the 
shelves where the books were, and 
saw these lines on the gilt back of 
one of the books : 

Fair girl \ dry up your tears , 
You have no cause for fears ; 
Say what you wish to see , 

And it shall come to thee. 

“ Ah !” said she, with a sigh, “ what 
I most wish is to see my poor 
father, and to know where he is, 
and if he has got back to our house.” 



48 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


She said this in so low a tone that 
no one could hear her ; but just 
then, by chance she cast her eyes 
on a glass that stood near her, and 
in the glass she saw her home 
and her pa, who, on his grey nag 
rode up to the door of the house 
in great grief. Her sisters came 
out to meet him ; but for all they 
tried to look sad, one could see, 
with ease, that in their hearts they 
were full of joy. In a short time 
the things that she saw went out 
of the glass ; but Beauty thought 



BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


49 


that the beast was a good, kind 
beast, and that she had no need to 
fear him. When it came to be 
noon, she found rich food set out 
for her, and she heard s weet sounds, 
like harps and the songs of boys 
and girls, all the time she ate, and 
yet she saw no one. But, at night, 
when it was tea time, and she sat 
down in her seat, to eat the nice 
food she found laid out for her, she 
heard the noise of the beast, and 
it made her shake with fear. 
“ Beauty,” said he, as he came in, 

5 


50 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


“ will you give me leave to see you 
sup ?” “That is as you please,” 
said she, in great fear. “Not at all,” 
said the beast; “no one but you 
shall have the right to say what 
shall be done in this place. If 
you do not like to see me here, you 
have but to say so and I will leave 
you to take your tea in peace.” 
Beauty thought of her room, and 
the things he had put there to 
please her, and she told him to 
stay if he would like to do so. 
“Tell me, Beauty,” he said then, 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


51 


do you not think I am a fright?” 
“ Why yes,” said she, “ for I can 
not say what is not true, but 
then I think you are good and 
kind.” “You are right,” said the 
beast ; I am a fright, and then I am 
dull too. I know full well that I am 
but a beast.” “ I do not think you 
can be dull,” said Beauty, “if you 
know this.” “ Pray do not let me 
keep you from your tea,” said he, 
“ and be sure you ask for all you 
want, for all you see is yours, and 
it will give me much grief if you 


52 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


are not glad and gay.” “How 
kind you are!” said Beauty. “I 
must needs own that I think well 
of your kind heart, and then I do 
not think what a fright you are.” 
“Yes, yes, I hope I have a good 
heart,” said he, “ but still I am a 
beast.” “ There are men who are 
worse beasts than you are,” said 
Beauty, “ and you please me more 
in that form, though it is the form 
of a beast, than those who have 
bad hearts, with the form of a man.” 
“ If I had the least sense, ’’said the 



BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


53 


beast, “I would thank you for 
what you have said, but I am so 
dull that I do not know how to say 
what would please you.” Beauty 
took her tea with a gay heart, and 
felt as if she should soon lose all 
her dread of the beast, but she 
thought she should sink with feai 
when, all at once, he said to her, 
“Beauty, will you be my wife?” 
For a short time she could not 
speak a word, for she thought he 
would fly in a great rage if she 
said no. At length she said, “ No, 


54 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


beast.” The beast did not speak, 
but he gave a deep sigh, as he left 
the room. 

When Beauty found that he 
had gone, she felt sad as she 
thought of him. “ Dear me,” said 
she, “ what a sad thing it is that he 
should be such a fright, since he 
has such a good heart !” Beauty 
dwelt three months in this house, 
and was, most of the time, quite 
gay. The beast came to see her 
at night. He said it gave him joy 
to see her, and talk with her, while 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


55 


she took her tea, and though 
what he said was not as wise as 
what some men might have said, 
yet, as she saw in him, each day, 
some new mark of his good heart, 
she did not dread the hour when 
he came to see her ; far from that, 
she would look at her wateh three 
or four times to see if it was near 
nine; for that was the time he 
came to pay his call. There was 
but one thing that gave her pain; 
this was, that each night, as the 
beast went out of the room, he 


56 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


made it a rule to ask her if she 
would be his wife, and he grew 
more and more sad each time 
that she said no. At last, one 
night, she said to him, “You vex 
me much, beast, when you ask me 
to be your wife, for it gives me pain 
to say no to you. I wish I could 
like you so well as to be your wife ; 
but I must tell you the truth, 
which is, that I do not think such 
a thing can be. I shall be your 
friend all my life, so try not to wish 
for more than that.” “ I must needs 


BEAUTY AND TEE B EAS T. 


57 


do so, then,” said the beast, “ for I 
know full well what a. fright I am, 
but I love you more than I love 
my life. Yet I think I have good 
luck when I find you are so kind 
as to stay with me. Now give me 
your word, Beauty, that you will 
not leave me.” Beauty was quite 
sad when he said this, for that 
same day she had seen in her glass 
that her father was sick with grief 
for her sake, and that the thought 
that he should see her no more, 
made him so ill that they thought 


58 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


he would die. “I will, with all 
my heart, give you my word that 
I will not stay far from you,” said 
she, “but I long so much to see 
my father, that if you do not give 
me leave to go to him, I shall die 
with grief.” “ I would as lief die 
as see you fret, Beauty,” said the 
beast. “ I will send you to your 
father’s house ; you shall stay there, 
and your poor beast shall die of 
grief.” “No,” said Beauty, and 
she cried while she spoke, “ I love 
you too well to be the cause of 



BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


59 


your death. I give you my word 
that I will come back in a week. 
You have shown me in my glass, 
that both my sisters are now wives, 
and live in their own homes, and 
my brothers are gone to the wars, 
so that my poor father has no one to 
stay with him. Let me stay one 
week with him.” “You shall be 
with him at dawn of day,” said 
the beast, “ but mind that you keep 
your word to me. When you 
wish to come back all you will have 
to do will be to put your ring 


CO 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


on a chair when you go to bed. 
Good by, Beauty.” The beast 
gave a sigh as he said these words, 
and Beauty went to bed with a 
sad heart to see him in such grief. 
When she woke the next morn, 
she found that she was in the house 
of her father. She rang a bell that 
was at the side of her bed, and a 
maid came in ; but as soon as 
she saw Beauty, she gave a loud 
shriek ; when Beauty’s father heard 
the shriek, he ran up stairs, and 
when he saw his dear girl, he felt 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


61 


as if lie should die of joy. He ran 
to the side of the bed and gave 
her a kiss with a glad heart. 
When it was time for Beauty to 
get up, all at once the thought 
came to her, that she had brought 
no clothes with her, to put on; but 
the maid told her that she had just 
found, in the next room, a large 
chest full of clothes, with fringe of 
gold round the neck and sleeves, 
and on the skirt, and with the 
gold, there were pearls of great size. 
Beauty, in her own mind, gave 


62 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


the beast her thanks for this kind 
act, and chose a gown that was 
not so gay as the rest. She then 
told the maid to put the rest in 
some safe place with a great deal 
of care, for she meant to give them 
to her sisters ; but as soon as she 
had said these words, the chest 
was gone out of sight, in less time 
than ij£ would take you to count 
ten. Her father then said that he 
thought the beast meant that she 
should keep them all, and that no 
one else should wear them ; and as 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


63 


soon as he had said this, they saw 
the chest stand in the place where 
it had stood when Beauty first 
spoke of it. When Beauty had 
her dress on, a maid brought word 
to her, that her sisters had come, 
with the men whose wives they 
were, to pay her a call. These 
men did not love their wives much, 
and did not live in peace with 
them at all times. One of these 
men had a fine face and form, but 
was so proud of this that he 
thought of it from morn to night, 



64 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


and did not care at all how his 
wife might look. The sister who 
was next in age to Beauty, was 
the wife of a man who knew 
a great deal, but he made no use 
of what he knew but to tease and 
vex all who came near him, and his 
wife more than them all. 

The two sisters felt as if they 
should burst with spite, when 
Beauty came down stairs to see 
them. They could not bear to 
see her look so fair and so well. 
All the kind things she said to 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


65 


them were of no use, and their 
rage knew no bounds when she 
told them what nice things she 
had in the house of the beast. 
These bad girls left her in the 
. house, and went off to the yard, 
where they cried to think of her 
good luck. “ Why should we be 
worse off than this bad girl ?” said 
they. “ Her face is not half so 
fair as ours.” “ Sister,” said the 
worst of the two, “ I have just 
thought of a plan to get rid of 
her ; let us try to keep her here 


66 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


more than the week that the beast 
gave her leave to stay, and then 
he will be in such a rage that no 
doubt he will eat her up as soon 
as he sees her.” “ That is well 
thought of,” said her sister, “ but 
to do this we must make her 
think that we are fond of her.” 
So they made up their minds to 
be kind to her, and went to join 
her in the house, where they gave 
her so much false love that her 
heart was won and she cried for 
joy. When the week was at an 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


67 


end, the two sisters spoke so much 
• of their grief at the thought that 
she must leave them, that she 
said she would stay a week more. 
But all that time there were sad 
thoughts in Beauty’s heart, that 
she could not drive out, for she 
thought how sad her poor beast 
would be, when he found that she 
did not go back to him, and now 
her whole heart was full of love for 
him and the wish to see him grew 
more and more strong. The 
tenth night that she was in her 



68 BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


father’s house, she had a dream. 
She thought she was in the yard 
at the back of the house of the 
beast, and that he lay more than 
half dead, on a grass plat, and 
with his last breath put her in 
mind of what she had said to 
him. He told her that she had 
not kept her word, and that that 
was the cause of his death. 
Beauty woke in a great fright, and 
tears fell from her eyes. “Am I 
not a bad girl,” said she, “ to treat so 
ill a beast who has been so kind to 



BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


69 


me ? Why will I not be his 
wife ? I am sure I should have 
more joy and peace with him, 
than my sisters have with the 
men whose wives they are. He 
shall no more be sad to find that 
I do not go back, for if he should 
die I should feel all the rest of my 
life that it was my fault.” She 
then rose, put her ring on a chair, 
then went back to bed and soon 
went to sleep. The next morn, 
how great was her joy to find 
that she was in the * house of the 


70 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


beast. She rose and put on her 
best dress, that she might please 
him more. “ Oh that the night 
would come !” said she. As the 
hours went by, one by one, the 
day was to her like ten days. At 
last the clock struck nine, but the 
beast did not come. Beauty then 
felt sure she had been the cause 
of his death in truth. " She ran 
from room to room, till she had 
been in all the rooms of the house, 
but she could not find him. An 
hour went by, ‘and still her search 



BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


71 


was not at an end. All at once she 
thought of her dream, and ran 
straight to the grass plat and there 
she found the poor beast. At 
the first look she gave, she thought 
all sense had left him. He was, 
as far as she could see, quite dead. 
She threw her arms round him, 
She did not think then what a 
fright he was, and as she found 
that his heart still beat, she ran to 
fill a jug at a spring in the yard, 
and knelt down by his side, to 
bathe his face. The beast then 


72 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


tried to look up at her, and said, 
“You did not keep your word, 
Beauty. I felt so sad to think that 
I had lost you that I could not 
eat, and now you see how near 
death I am ; but I can die in 
peace, it is such joy to see you 
once more.” “ No, dear beast," 
said Beauty, “you shall not die, 
you shall live ; I will be your wife, 
and no man shall have the right 
to take me from you, as long as we 
both live. Oh, I thought I was 
but your friend, but the pain I now 



BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 73 


feel, shows me that I could not 
live if I did not see you.” As 
soon as Beauty had said these 
words, the house of the beast was 
full of light, and the sweet sound 
of harps, and fire-works, and all 
things that tell of great joy, were 
seen and heard. But Beauty saw 
and heard none of these things. 
All her heart was with her dear 
beast, by whose side she knelt, 
and whom she did not cease to 
watch with great love. But now, 
as her eyes were still cast down, 


74 BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 


she saw at her feet, not her poor 
beast, but a prince in a rich dress, 
with as fine a face and form as you 
could wish to see. This prince 
gave her his thanks that she had 
been so kind to him. She did 
not know what to think, but all 
she could do was to ask this 
young prince where the beast had 
gone. “You see him at your 
feet, Beauty,” said the prince, “ for 
I am he ; a bad fairy said that I 
should keep the form of a beast, 
till some fair young girl should 


BEAUTY AND TEE BEAST. 75 


say that she would be my wife ; 
and this fairy told me, on pain of 
death, not to show that I could 
speak or act with sense. No one 
but you, dear Beauty, would judge 
of me by my heart, and to pay you 
for that I will give you my hand 
and my crown, though I know 
that that is much less than what I 
owe you.” Beauty, with a heart 
full of joy and love, gave the 
prince her hand to help him to 
rise, and then they went to the 
house, and who can tell what joy 


76 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


she felt to find there her father and 
sisters, who had been brought there 
by the fairy Beauty had seen in 
her dream the first night she slept 
in the beast’s house. “ Beauty,” 
said the fairy, “ you will, all your 
life, be glad of the choice you 
have made. You chose a good 
heart, and thought more of that 
than of sense or a fine face, and 
you shall find them all three in 
the same man. Y ou will soon be 
a great queen ; I hope, when you 
wear a crown, you will not cease 



BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


77 


to be as good and true as you 
are now. As for you,” said the 
fairy to Beauty’s two sisters, “ I 
have long known the bad thoughts 
of your hearts, and the wrongs 
you have done. Y ou shall change 
to two white posts, but in that 
form you shall still keep your 
mind, and see and hear all that 
goes on. Your place shall be at 
the front gate of your sister’s house, 
and I can not wish you more 
pain than it will give you to see 
her joy. You will not change 


78 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


back to your own forms till your 
faults have quite left you, and to 
tell you the truth, I much fear you 
will be posts till the end of the 
world.” Then the fairy with a 
stroke of her wand took all who 
• were there to the land of the 
young prince, where all who 
had known him in times past, 
came forth to meet him in great 
joy. He took Beauty for his 
wife, and spent a long life with 
her. They were all the time full 
of joy and peace, for they did right 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 


79 


in their thoughts and words and 
acts as they had done all their 
lives. 



THE 

Children in the Wood. 


There once dwelt, long since ; 
when you were not yet born, in a 
land a great way off, a man and 
his wife ; the man had a brave, 

kind heart, and all who knew him 

80 



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 81 


felt great love for him, and his wife 
was just such a wife as a good man 
like him ought to have. They 
tried at all times to do kind acts to 
those who came to see them, or 
whose homes were near theirs, or 
who did work for them, and it 
was these kind acts and kind 
words that they gave to all, that 
won for them so much love. The 
man and his wife dwelt in one 
house for years, in great peace and 
joy, for the man felt great love for 
his wife, and she felt the same for 


82 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


him. They had a boy and a girl, 
who both were still quite young, 
for the one who was born first, 
who was a boy, was not quite 
three years old, and the one who 
was born last, who was a girl, was 
not quite two years old. The boy 
was a good deal like his father, 
and the girl was a good deal like 
her mother. By and by the man 
fell sick, and day by day he grew 
worse. His wife, as I have just 
said, gave to him her whole heart, 
and it was such grief to her to see 


THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 83 


how ill he was that she fell ill too. 
The drugs that they took to cure 
them, and all the nice things that 
their friends brought, were of no 
use, for they grew worse and 
worse; and they saw that death 
would soon take them from their 
two dear babes, and that they 
would have to leave them in the 
world with no father and no mother 
to take care of them. They bore 
this sad thought as well as they 
could, and they had hopes that 
when they were dead, their babes 


84 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


would find some kind friend who 
would take them and bring them 
up as their own. The man 
spoke of this to his wife, but he did 
not know what he ought to do 
with them, and his wife was as 
much in doubt as he was ; but at 
last he said that he would send for 
his brother, and place the dear 
babes in his care. As soon as the 
man’s brother heard this news, he 
made all the haste he could, to go to 
the place where the father and mo- 
ther lay sick, and in a short time he 


THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 85 


stood by the side of their bed. 
“Ah! brother,” said the man, as 
he lay on the bed of death, “you 
see how short a time I can hope 
to live; yet death and pain can 
not give me half so much grief as 
I feel at the thought of what these 
dear babes will do with no father or 
mother to take care of them. Broth- 
er, brother,” the man went on to say, 
and he put out his hand as well as 
he could to point to the babes, 
“ they will have no one but you to 

be kind to them, no one but you 

8 


86 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


to see that they have clothes and 
food, and to teach them to be good 
and wise.” 

“ Dear, dear brother,” said his 
wife, who "was as near death as 
he was, “you must be father and 
mother and uncle too, to these dear 
lambs. First let Will be taught 
to read, and then he should be told 
how good his father was. And dear, 
dear Jane, oh brother, it wrings 
my heart to talk of her. Think of 
the kind love she will be in need 
of, and take her up and set her on 


THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 87 


your knee, brother, and she and 
Will will pay you for all your 
care of them, with the love of their 
whole hearts.” The uncle then 
said, “ Oh, how it %rieves. my 
heart to see you, my dear brother 
and sister, in this sad state ; but 
keep a brave heart ; there may still 
be hope that you will get well ; yet 
if it should come to pass that we 
must lose you, I will do all you 
wish for your dear babes. In me 
they shall find a father, a mother 
and an uncle. Will shall be taught 


88 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


to read, and from time to time I will 
talk to him of his father and tell 
him how good he was, that he may 
turn out as good when he grows 
up to be a man. I will take 
great care of Jane, and will take 
her up in my lap, and show her 
all the love I can. But, dear 
brother, you have not said a word 
of the great wealth that will be 
left here when you are dead. I 
am sure you know my heart too 
well to think that I speak of this 
for my own sake ; it is for the good 



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 89 

of your dear babes that I speak, 
so that I can make use of all 
your gold for their sake.” “ I 
pray, brother,” said the man, 
who had not now half an hour to 
live, “ do not say such a thing ; it 
grieves my heart to hear you, for 
how could you, who will be their 
father and mother and uncle too, 
once think to do them wrong? 
Here, here, brother, is my will. 
You will see that I have done 
the best I could for my babes.” 

• When the man had said these 

8 * 


90 THE CHILDREN IN TEE WOOD. 


words, he put his cold lips to the 
soft warm lips of his babes ; his 
wife did the same, and in a short 
time they both died. The uncle 
shed a few tears at this sad sight, 
and then went to get the will, in 
which he found that his brother 
had left the boy, Will, the sum of 
three hundred pounds a year, 
when he should be of age, and to 
J ane, the girl, the sum of five hun- 
dred pounds in gold to be paid 
her the day a man took her to be 
his wife. But if the boy and girl 



THE CHILDREN IN TEE WOOD. 91 


should chance to die while they 
were still young, then all that their 
pa had left to them, was to be 
their uncle’s. The will of the 
dead man next said that he and 
his dear wife should be laid side 
by side in the same grave. The 
boy and girl now went home to the 
house of their uncle, who for some 
time did just as their father and mo- 
ther had told him, as they lay on 
the bed of death. Each day they 
saw signs of his great love and 
they thought he must care more for 



92 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


them than for all else in the world. 
But when some months had gone 
by he thought no more how their 
father and mother gave them to his 
care, and how he gave his word that 
he would be their father and mother 
and uncle all in one. This change 
did not take place all at once, but 
day by day his heart grew more 
and more cold to the babes whom 
he had said he would take care of. 
When some more time had gone 
by it came to the uncle’s heart to 
wish that the boy and girl would 



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 93 


die, for then he should have all 
their wealth to keep for his own ; 
and when he had once thought 
that, he went on till it put all else 
out of his head. At last, one day, 
he said in his own mind, “ It would 
not be a hard thing for me to kill 
them, so that no one should know 
that I had done so, and then all that 
their father left would be my own 
at once. When the bad uncle had 
once brought his mind to kill the 
poor babes, who could not keep 
him from it, it did not take him 



94 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


long to find a way to bring it to 
pass. He got two strong and bad 
men, who, in a dark, thick wood 
some way off, had slain some of 
those who went through the wood, 
that they might get from them 
their gold. The uncle now spoke 
to these two bad men, and they 
told him that if he would give 
them a great sum, they would do 
the worst deed that man could do; 
and so the uncle laid his plans to 
help them as mgph as he could. 
He told a false tale to his wife of 



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 95 


what good it would do to the boy 
and girl to make them learn more 
than they did, and how he had a 
friend in a large town a great way 
off, who would take care of them. 
He then said to the poor things, 
who were too young to think that 
he would harm them, “Should 
not you like, my sweet ones, to go 
to a great town, where you, Will, 
can buy a fine horse made of wood 
to ride on all the day long, and a 
whip to make him go fast, and a 
fine sword to wear by your side ? 


96 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


And you, Jane, shall have new 
frocks, and dolls, and new toys, 
all the time, to play with, and a 
nice coach with gold on it shall be 
got to take you there.” “ Oh yes, I 
will go, uncle,” said Will. “ Oh, 
yes, I will go, uncle,” said Jane, 
and the uncle, with a heart as hard 
as a stone, soon put their things in 
a trunk and in a few days he told 
them it was time to start. The 
poor things were put in a fine coach, 
and with them were the two bad 
men who would soon put an end to 



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 97 


their sweet talk, and change their 
smiles to tears. One of them 
drove the coach, and one sat in it 
on a seat, with Will at his right 
hand, and Jane at his left. When 
they came to the dark, thick wood, 
the two bad men took them out of 
the coach, and told them that now 
they might walk for a short time 
and pick up nuts and play, and 
while the babes got out of the 
coach to play and skip like young 
lambs the bad men with their backs 
to them laid their plans for what 



98 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


they had to do. “ In good truth,' 
said the one who had sat with a 
child on each side all the way to 
the wood, “ now I have seen the 
sweet babes, and heard them talk, 
I have no heart to do so bad a 
deed. Let us drop the sharp knife 
in the stream and send the babes 
back to their uncle.” “ But in truth 
I will not,” said the man who 
drove the coach ; what is their 
sweet talk to us ?” “ Think of 

vour own babes at home,” said the 
first. “ I do think of them, and I 



THE CHILDREN IN TEE WOOD. 99 


think that I shall not get the gold 
to take back to them if I let these 
babes live as you would have me 
do.” 

At last the two bad men fell in 
such a great rage, as they spoke 
of the poor babes, that they had a 
fight, and the one who would have 
been glad to spare the lives of the 
boy and girl, took out the great 
knife he had brought to kill them, 
and cut to the heart the man who 
would have put an end to theii 
lives, so that he fell down dead at 



100 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


his feet. The one who had slain 
him was quite at a loss what to do 
with the babes, for he now felt 
that he must run off as fast as he 
could for fear that some one would 
find him in the wood. At last 
he thought all he could do was to 
leave them in the wood, and hope 
that some kind man might pass 
that way and find them there, and 
take them to his own home, 01 
back to their uncle. “ Come here, 
my sweet babes,” said he, “you 
must take hold of my hands and 



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 101 


go a short way with me.” The 
poor babes took each a hand and 
went on, but the tears burst from 
their eyes, and their limbs shook 
with fear all the while, for they 
had seen the two men fight, and 
did not know what would come to 
pass next. Thus he led them 
two or three miles on in the wood, 
and then told them to wait there 
till he came back from the next 
town, where he would go and get 
them some food. Will took his 
sister Jane by the hand, and they 


102 THE CHILE BEN IN TEE WOOD. 


went in great fear up and down 
in the wood. “Will the strange 
man come soon with some cakes, 
Will ?” said Jane. “ By and by, 
dear Jane,” said Will. Jane did 
not speak for some time ; then she 
said, “ I wish I had some cakes, 
Will.” Then they gave a good 
look round on all sides through the 
wood as far as their eyes could 
see, and it would have made a 
heart as hard as a stone, feel sad 
to see how sad their looks were, 
and how, when they heard the 


THE CHILDREN IN TEE WOOD. 103 


noise of the wind in the trees, 
they thought it might be some one 
come to help them. When they 
found that their hopes were in vain 
they tried to eat wild grapes, but 
they soon ate all that they could 
reach. Night came on, and Will, 
who had tried all he could to help 
his sister, who was not so old as 
he was, now felt the need of some 
one to help him ; so when Jane 
said once more, “Oh Wijl, I do 
so want some food, I — I — I must 
cry, I can not help it.” Will cried 


104 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


too, and down they lay on the 
cold earth, and Will put his arm 
round Jane’s neck and Jane put 
her head on his arm ; there they 
lay sick for want of food, and there 
they died. Thus these two sweet 
babes, who in all their lives had 
done no harm, met with a sad 
death, and as no one knew that 
they were dead, so there was no 
one to dig a grave and put them 
in it. In the mean time their uncle 
thought they been slain, as he 
had told the two bad men to kill 



THE CHILDREN OF THE WOOD. 105 


them, so he told all the folks who 
tried to find out from him where 
they were, a false tale. He said 
that they had died in the great 
town, of the small pox, and he 
then took all their wealth for his 
own, and spent it as if it had been 
his by good right. But all this 
did him no good, for soon his wife 
died; the loss of his wife made 
him sad, and then, too, in the 
night, as he lay in bed and tried to 
sleep, he thought he saw the poor 
babes with blood on their clothes, 



106 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


so his wealth gave him no joy, 
and as he was too full of grief to 
make plans to keep it, or make it 
more, he lost it day by day, 
and soon came to be a poor man. 
Then, too, his two sons had gone 
on board of a ship to try to get 
rich far from home, and to see 
the world ; but they both were 
lost at sea, and he grew quite sad, 
and his life gave him no more joy. 
When things had gone on in this 
way for some years, the bad man 
who had gone with the babes to 


THE CHILDREN IN TEE WOOD. 107 


the wood and would not kill them 
there, tried to rob some one in that 
same wood. They gave chase to 
him, and he was laid hold of, and 
put in a cell ; in a few weeks he 
was tried, and when the judge 
found that what they said of him 
was true, he said he should be 
hung for the crime. As soon as 
he found what his death must be, 
he sent for the man who kept his 
cell and told him all the bad deeds 
he had done in his whole life 
Thus he made known the death ol 



108 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 


the two babes, and, at the same 
time, told what part of the wood 
he had left them to starve in. 
The news of this soon came to 
the ears of the uncle. At that time 
his heart was sad for all the ills 
that had come to him, and he 
could not bear the load of shame 
that he knew must now fall on 
him, in the sight of all the world. 
So he lay down on his bed, and 
died that same day. As soon as 
the tale of the death of the two 
babes was made known to the 


THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 109 


world, some men were sent to 

search the wood for them. Their 

search was in vain for a long time, 

but at last the sweet babes were 

found side by side. Will’s arm 

was round the neck of Jane, his 

face close to hers, and part of his 

frock lay on top of hers. There 

were leaves on them that quite 

hid them from view, and which, 

in all that time, had not grown 

dry ; and on a bush, near this cold 

grave, there sat a robin red breast 

who took his place there to watch 
10 



110 THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 

the grave and chirp, so that there 
are some who still think it was 
this kind bird that brought the 
leaves and laid them on the sweet 
babes. 



Jl 6 69 


















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